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THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH 



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CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

Florida and Jackson's Seminole Campaign — The Attempt to Censure the 
General for his Conduct in the War — The Beginning of the Feud 
between him and Clay — The Relation of Clay and Jackson to the 
Ensuing Political Period — Clay's Early History, to his Election as 
Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1811 — The New Political 
Conditions of the Country Page 1 



CHAPTER II 

Maritime Aggressions of England and France — The Restrictive System — 
Clay as Speaker of the House — Preparations for War — Madison Accepts 
Clay's Programme and is Re-elected — The Embargo and the Declara- 
tion of War against England — The Political Aspect of the War — Clay's 
Reply to Quincy— The Treaty of Ghent— The Effect of the War— The 
Bank of the United States — Clay's Change of Opinion in Regard to it — 
The Tariff of 1816— The Policy of Internal Improvements, Madison's 
Veto, and Monroe's Hostile Position — Clay Opposes Monroe's Adminis- 
tration — He Advocates Internal Improvements and the Recognition of 
the South American Republics 46 



CHAPTER III 

Clay's Political Position — The Missouri Compromise, the Statesmanship of 
It, and Clay's Agency in Effecting It — He Renews his Efforts for the 
Recognition of the South American Republics, and Finally Succeeds — 
He Temporarily Retires, but Returns to the House at the Opening of the 
Eighteenth Congress — He Defeats a Bill to Pension Commodore Perry's 
Mother, and Advocates Internal Improvements and Webster's Resolu- 
tion Concerning the Recognition of Greece — The Monroe Doctrine — 
The Tariff of 1824 and Clay's Relation to Protection— The Political 
Situation in 1824 — William H. Crawford — John Quincy Adam c : 



i CONTENTS 

Elected President by the House Through Clay's Influence, and Clay 
becomes Secretary of State— Clay's Administration of the State Depart- 
ment — The Panama Mission — John Randolph — His Duel with Clay — 
Adams and his Administration — Jackson is Elected over Adams in 
1838— Clay's Home, Family, Personal Appearance, Temperament, and 
Mind Page 79 

CHAPTER IV 

The New Development and Arrangement of Political Forces — Andrew 
Jacksou, and the Significance of his Political Rise — His First Adminis- 
tration — The Spoils System — The "Kitchen Cabinet" — Party Dissen- 
sion and Reorganization of the Cabinet — The Political Issues — Clay 
J Nominated for President and Re-elected to the Senate — The Political 
Activity of the Period — The Whig Programme — The Rejection of Van 
Buren's Nomination for Minister to England — Clay's Plan of Tariff 
Revision — His Defence of the American System — The Tariff of 1832— 
The Public Lands — The Effort to Compromise Clay on the Subject — 
His Land Bill . . 123 



CHAPTER V 

The Controversy over the Bank of the United States— Thomas H. Benton 
—The Whig Leaders Refuse to Compromise with Jackson on the 
Question of Rechartering the Bank — The Bank as a Political Issue — 
The Veto of the Bill to Recharter— The Error of the Whig Policy— 
The Debate on the Veto — The Presidential Campaign of 1832 — Jack- 
son's Triumph — Nullification — The Force Bill and the Verplanck Tariff 
Bill — John C. Calhoun — Clay's Compromise Bill — It is Substituted for 
the Verplanck Bill in the House and Passed by the Senate — The Com- 
promise Bill and the Force Bill become Laws, and South Carolina 
Repeals the Nullification Ordinance — The Wisdom of the Compromise 
and Clay's Responsibility for it — His Land Bill is Passed by both 
Houses, but Vetoed by the President 167 

CHAPTER VI 

Clay and Jackson make Northern Tours— The Removal of the Deposits — 
Tactics of the Whigs in the Senate — Clay's Resolutions Censuring the 
President and the Secretary of the Treasury— The Debate — The Anti- 
Bank Resolutions of the House — The Distress Petitions — Jackson's 
Protest against the Censure and the Subsequent Proceedings — Taney's 
Nomination for Secretary of the Treasury Rejected— Other Phases of 
the Bank Struggle — Coinage Legislation — The Land Bill — The De- 
posits Bill — The French Spoliations— The Cherokee Indians — The 
Four Years Law and the Spoils System 215 



CHAPTER VII 

1 -, -• f thP Surolus-The French Spoliations-The Slavery Ques- 
.ribution of the burpius me * J Publications— Admission 

tion-The Abolition Petitions ^d IncendKuy £^ Death 

, of Arkansas and Michigan into the Union-Texas £ 
and Chavacter-Tbe Colon « ( S ^^iSon of 1836 
Becomes Chief Justice-The Political Si nation The * £_ 
-Politico-Finance-Jackson's Physica .and Menta J J ra1 ^ Tbe 

Farther Distribution-The Financial Condition of the Count y 
Mania for Speculation-The Specie Circular 8 

CHAPTER VIII 

••■ nf TpvL- The Mexican Claims -International Copy- 

rbe i togj-JSi Resolution to Expunge the Senate's Censure 

of as nf o^ the Removal of the Deposit- The *£»*£»»£ 

The Debate-Clay's ^^^^L^SiS^SSSS^ 

^Iso^rS^ " 

CHAPTER IX 

VM Buret* It«e «. -£ jMjJ j^S^lS.^ 

Jackson's Successo.-The Ousts ot iw< Merchants 

Webster's Speech ^f^^Ti^ the President's Mes- 
to the President-Tlte tx-i a session u *• . , Opposition, 

sage, and the ^^^^2-2^^ Debate on 
SX'^i. Over the Slavery Qnestion-Oah 

houn's Attitude 

CHAPTER X 

The Debate on Calhoun's Slavery Resolution. £<*£«*g^ 
Independent Treasury again ^^^^^^ W& let Speech 
The Doctrine of Instructions— The Subsidiar) ooiu j Nortbe m 

on the Slavery Question and Calhoun's Commen *-^g£E 
Tour-The Obstacles to Hte Nominauon-T he ^ S National 

tion-Harrison and Tyler Nominated - Clay 8 Disgust a 4 ^ 

cence 

CHAPTER XI 
i t> iu; M i Situation— Organization of the House— The 

Slavery and International Law — The Demociauc ^u 



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THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH 



CHAPTER I 

Florida and Jackson's Seminole Campaign— The Attempt to Censure the 
General for his Conduct in the War— The Beginning of the Feud 
between him and Clay— The Relation of Clay and Jackson to the 
Ensuing Political Period — Clay's Early History, to his Election as 
Speaker of the House of Representatives in 1811— The New Political 
Conditions of the Country 

Florida had long beeu a prolific cause of trouble. It was 
the abode of outlaws, hostile Indians, and runaway slaves, 
constantly increasing in number. During the war with 
England they had acted, to whatever extent they could, with 
the British, who left in their possession a fortification on 
the Appalachicola, known as Negro Fort, containing a large 
quantity of arms and military stores. It was the source of 
serious mischief to the adjoining frontier, and particularly 
to the Georgia slave-owners. In the summer of 1816 our 
"^troops, under General Gaines, with the consent of the Span- 
ish authorities at Pensacola, invested the fort and destroyed 
it. But the condition which had permitted this annoyance 
still continued, and would continue so long as Spain owned 
the territory and was unwilling or unable to perform the 
duties of sovereignty as well as her treaty obligations. The 
next year after the destruction of Negro Fort the govern- 
ment took similar measures to abate a still greater nuisance 
1 



2 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1816 

— the occupation of Amelia Island, off the northeast coast 
of Florida, by pirates, smugglers, and slaves who had over- 
powered the Spanish garrison stationed there and made it 
their depot and retreat. Meantime, affrays between the 
Indians and whites quite as lawless became more frequent, 
and culminated in an attack by General Gaines and his 
forces upon the Creeks at Fowltown. Their village was 
sacked and a few reds were killed. This trivial affair was 
the beginning of an Indian war which proved to be the 
origin of a vastly greater political war. 

General Jackson was forthwith ordered to the scene. 
His victory at New Orleans had made him the foremost 
captain of the country. He had since commanded the 
Western Department. Pie had experience in Indian war- 
fare, having won his first military reputation in the Creek 
war of 1814. He was in cordial relations with the adminis- 
tration. That he should be put in command was a natural 
consequence. With his characteristic vigor, and assuming 
authority in disregard of his orders to draw upon State 
militia in the mode prescribed by law, he raised a body of 
volunteers, appointed their officers, and pushed with celerity 
to the Florida frontier. The campaign which followed was 
all that such preliminaries promised. 

With a force of eighteen hundred he plunged into Florida, 
where he was soon afterward joined by a brigade of friendly 
Indians. Before this array the enemy vanished into the 
swamps and forests, leaving only their wretched villages to 
be destroyed. Not more than sixty of the hostile Indians, 
who did not number more than a thousand, were killed 
during the campaign, and these without the loss of a single 
white soldier. The chiefs were captured by displaying the 
English flag, and hanged. But for Jackson to execute his 



Ch. I.J THE FLORIDA WAR 3 

orders to pursue and subdue the Indians was not enough. 
On the supposition that the Spaniards were in complicity 
with the Indians, he seized St. Mark's and Pensacola, and 
placed in each an American garrison. The Spanish gov- 
ernor had fled from Pensacola and taken refuge in the fort 
at Barrancas. This place Jackson bombarded into surren- 
der. He then transported the Spanish officers to Havana, 
and established a military government. 

Among the numerous arbitrary acts of this unique cam- 
paign was the execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister, des- 
tined to more conspicuous historical note than any other. 
The former was an old Scotch trader found at St. Mark's ; 
the latter was a young Englishman taken in one of the 
Indian towns. Both were tried by court-martial. Arbuth- 
not was convicted of exciting the Creeks to war and of sup- 
plying them with means. He was sentenced to be hanged. 
Ambrister was convicted of supplying means and leading 
the lower Creeks. He was sentenced to be shot. For some 
reason, Ambrister's sentence was reconsidered by the court, 
and changed to flogging and imprisonment. This, however, 
Jackson disapproved, and restored the original sentence. 
Both men were then executed. 

Jackson announced that the war was ended, and returned 
to Nashville. But, upon reflection, he ordered General 
Gaines to take St. Augustine. This order, if executed, 
would have completed the conquest of the Floridas. It 
was sent to the "War Department, which by this time had 
full cognizance of Jackson's proceedings. The Spanish 
Minister was also apprised, and was already protesting 
vehemently. The administration was in a predicament. 
Jackson had grossly exceeded our national rights as well as 
his instructions. Unless his acts were disavowed the pend- 



4 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1819 

ing negotiations with Spain would be frustrated ; and to 
secure the peaceable cession of the Floridas was, without 
doubt, the preferable policy. There was plainly but one 
course to pursue, and that was immediately taken. Jack- 
son's order to Gaines was quickly countermanded. The 
posts Jackson seized were restored, and the provisional 
government he had set up was withdrawn. 

But Jackson himself was too popular to admit of his 
being censured by the administration. As so often hap- 
pens with political administrations, it said one thing and 
did another. But this course was adopted only after a 
struggle in the Cabinet. Calhoun, Secretary of War, and 
Crawford, Secretary of the Treasury, were for censure. 
Adams, Secretary of State, alone defended the General. 
The discussion was finally allayed, so far as appearances 
were concerned, by disavowing in fact what was verbally 
approved as having been necessary under the circumstances. 
However bold and arbitrary Jackson's conduct had been, 
no one supposed that he had been influenced by any other 
motive than to suppress the frontier troubles, both Indian 
and Spanish, unless, perhaps, to distinguish himself. The 
mass of the people believed, with Adams, that Jackson 
had done the right thing, though possibly in the wrong 
way. But the politicians with Presidential aspirations 
were alarmed, professedly for the institutions and character 
of their country, but really because of Jackson's threatening 
popularity. 

As soon as Congress convened, the subject of the Semi- 
nole campaign was taken up. In due time committee 
reports were made condemning Jackson's operations. In 
the Senate nothing further was done ; but in the House 
a violent and protracted debate ensued. In this debate 



Oh. I.] CLAY'S SPEECH 5 

Henry Clay was the principal figure. " But," says Adams, 
in bis Diary, "of that mighty controversy he was no longer 
the primary leader. lie had ranged himself under the 
Crawford banners." The debate began January 1G, 1819, 
and lasted until February 8th. Thirty-three set speeches 
were delivered, twenty of them being against the proposed 
resolutions of censure. One of the resolutions expressed 
disapproval of the execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister, 
and the others proposed legislation to prevent like acts in 
the future. Clay spoke twice. His first speech was on 
January 17th. The second was at the close of the debate, 
and was not reported. 

The whole debate is disappointing. It is no great com- 
pliment to Clay to say that his speech was the strongest 
and most striking of the debate, no small part of which was 
bad declamation. He disclaimed all personal unfriendli- 
ness either to General Jackson or to the administration. 
" Toward that distinguished captain," said he, " who shed 
so much glory on our country, whose renown constitutes 
so great a portion of its moral property, I never had, I 
never can have, any other feelings than those of profound 
respect and of the utmost kindness. . . . Rather than throw 
obstructions in the way of the President, I would precede 
him and pick out those, if I could, which might jostle him 
in his progress ; I would s}^mpathize with him in his em- 
barrassments, and commiserate with him in his misfort- 
unes." To neutralize the effect he had produced in his pre- 
vious hostility to the administration, he assured the House, 
with great show of candor but with, poor prophecy, that 
he had not engaged and would not engage in systematic 
opposition to Monroe, nor to the administration of any other 
Chief Magistrate. " I will say," he added, " that I approve 



G THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1819 

entirely of the conduct of our government, and that Spain 
has no just cause of complaint. We having violated no 
important stipulation of the treaty of 1796, that power has 
justly subjected herself to all the consequences which en- 
sued upon the entry into her dominions." 

He sought the origin of the war, by a far-fetched argu- 
ment based on imperfect acquaintance with the facts, in 
the treaty of Fort Jackson, concluded in August, 1814, by 
which the Creeks were subjected to grinding conditions. 
This treaty he posted as tyrannical and unconscionable, ex- 
torted by the sword. He contended that it served "but to 
whet and stimulate revenge, and give old hostilities, smoth- 
ered, not extinguished, by the pretended peace, a greater 
exasperation and more ferocity. A truce thus patched up 
with an unfortunate people without means of existence, 
without bread, is no real peace. The instant there is the 
slightest prospect of relief from such harsh and severe con- 
ditions, the conquered party will fly to arms and spend the 
last drop of blood rather than live in such degraded bond- 
age." He arraigned the capture of the Indian chiefs " b}^ 
means of deception — hoisting foreign colors on the staff 
from which the stars and stripes alone should have floated," 
and stigmatized as barbaric the retaliation for enormities 
that the Indians had perpetrated. He examined at length 
the proceedings under which Arbuthnot and Ambrister were 
executed, and pronounced the whole transaction to be in 
flagrant violation of civilized law and principle. He de- 
nounced the seizure of St. Mark's, Pensacola, and Barrancas 
as unauthorized war against Spain, and hence a lawless 
usurpation of the constitutional powers of Congress. But 
notwithstanding the severity of his strictures upon the 
General's acts, he attributed to him no improper motives. 



Ch. I.] CLAY'S SPEECH 7 

" I must cheerfully and entirely," said he, " acquit General 
Jackson of any intention to violate the laws of the country 
or the obligations of humanity. I am persuaded from all I. 
have heard that he considered himself as equally respecting 
and observing both." And again : " I hope not to be mis- 
understood ; I am far from intimating that General Jackson 
cherished any designs inimical to the liberty of the country. 
I believe his intentions to be pure and patriotic." Yet his 
peroration was as intense as though Jackson had been en- 
gaged in conspiracy and treason. 

" Against the alarming doctrine of unlimited discretion in 
our military commanders, when applied even to prisoners 
of war, I must enter my protest. It begins upon them ; it 
will end on us. . . . "We are fighting a great moral battle 
for the benefit not only of our country, but of all mankind. 
The eyes of the whole world are in fixed attention upon 
us. One, the largest portion of it, is gazing with contempt, 
with jealousy, and with envy; the other portion, with 
hope, with confidence, and with affection. Everywhere 
the black cloud of legitimacy is suspended over the world, 
save only one bright spot which breaks out from the politi- 
cal hemisphere of the West to enlighten and animate and 
gladden the human heart. Obscure that by the downfall 
of liberty here, and all mankind are enshrouded in a pall 
of universal darkness. . . . Beware how you forfeit this ex- 
alted character. Beware how you give a fatal sanction in 
this infant period of our republic, scarcely yet two score 
years old, to military insubordination. Remember that 
Greece had her Alexander, Rome her Caesar, England her 
Cromwell, France her Bonaparte ; and that if we escape the 
rock on which they split we must avoid their errors. ... I 
hope gentlemen will deliberately survey the awful isthmus 






I 



8 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1819 

on which we stand. They may bear down all opposition ; 
they may even vote the General the public thanks. But if 
they do, in my humble judgment, it will be a triumph of 
the principle of insubordination — a triumph of the military 
over the civil authority — a triumph over the powers of this 
House — a triumph over the Constitution of the land. And 
I pray most devoutly to Heaven that it may not prove in 
its ultimate effects and consequences a triumph over the 
liberties of the people." 

The resolutions decisively failed. The sum of the Gen- 
eral's acts was advantageous to the country ; and whatever 
they were, they were the acts of the " Hero of New 
Orleans." However correct it may have been to class the 
Seminoles within the pale of international law, to the mass 
of the people they were but a horde of blood-thirsty savages, 
to be exterminated by any means that offered. Likewise, 
the effort to convict Jackson of murder by the principles 
of Vattel seemed to most minds absurdly technical. Even 
though Arbuthnot and Ambrister were irregularly execut- 
ed, the suspicious circumstances attending their capture 
among the red-skins in the wilds of Florida placed them in 
a precarious position ; and this view was subsequently taken 
by the British government. As not even Jackson's fiercest 
assailants questioned that he acted, however rashly, as he 
thought was best and for the public good, a justification 
sufficient for all practical purposes was conceded. During 
the debate Jackson was in "Washington ; but immediately 
afterward he visited Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York, 
and was received with ovations. The attack was ill-advised. 
It proved the most calamitous and far-reaching of Clay's 
political mistakes. " The rage and disgust of the General," 
says Parton, "when he read the speech, were extreme. 



Cn. I.] THE FEUD 9 

The long feud between General Jackson and Mr. Clay 
dated from the delivery of this speech. Jackson never 
hated any man so bitterly and so long as he hated Henry 
Clay." 

Such was the origin of the most remarkable contest in 
our political history. It was the combat of two masterful 
personalities aided by conditions which had been long ma- 
turing. The character and quality of both men had been 
trained and tried, and through individuality and circum- 
stance they were soon to lead opposing political forces. 
Clay had been longer in the public eye. His career was 
solely civic, while Jackson's reputation was solely military. 
To appreciate the struggle waged under their leadership, 
it is necessary to understand the respective positions in 
which they stood in the popular mind when the struggle 
began ; and to do this requires that their previous history 
should be sketched. We must know the men before we 
can fully comprehend the events they moulded. Adequate 
biographies of such men cannot be written; their lives are 
components of history, and cannot properly be separated 
from it. At the risk of apparent departure from the pur- 
pose of this study, let us first examine at some length Clay's 
early career and its environment. It will serve the double 
purpose of depicting the individual and the conditions that 
produced a new political era. 

Clay was born April 12, 1777, in Hanover County, Vir- 
ginia. Little is known of his ancestry. In the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth, and soon after the colonization of Virginia, 
three brothers — Charles, Thomas, and Henry — sons of Sir 
John Clay, of Wales, came to the colony with Sir Walter 
Raleigh, who gave each of them ten thousand pounds. 
They settled near Jamestown. Henry left no children, but 



10 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1777-91 

Charles and Thomas became the founders of a numerous 
family. The future statesman was a descendant of the 
former. 1 His immediate origin was humble. His father, 
John Clay, was the pastor of a small congregation of Bap- 
tists, to whom he frequently preached from a rock on the 
shore of the South Anna Kiver, no doubt before adminis- 
tering the peculiar rite of his creed. The sect was then in 
low esteem in the South; so late as in 1775 its ministers 
were often arrested as disturbers of the peace. In the pre- 
ceding year, Madison, disgusted by this intolerant practice, 
wrote to a Northern friend : " I want again to breathe your 
free air. . . . That diabolical, hell -conceived principle of 
persecution rages among some ; and to their eternal infamy 
the clergy can furnish their quota of imps for such purposes. 
There are at this time in the adjacent county not less than 
five or six well-meaning men in close jail for publishing 
their religious sentiments, which in the main are very or- 
thodox." 2 

Kindly tradition represents the Kev. Mr. Clay as possess- 
ing some of the oratorical qualities that characterized his 
famous son. He died in 17S1, leaving in straitened circum- 
stances a widow and seven children, one of his five sons 
having previously died. Henry was next to the youngest 
child, and the only one to rise from obscurit}' - . Mrs. Clay's 
maiden name was Hudson. She was an intelligent, esti- 
mable woman, and a worthy mother. She lived more than 
eighty years, surviving most of her fifteen children, having 
seven by her second husband, whom she married after a few 



1 "I believe I have the only reliable record of the Clay family extant. 
It is written on blank leaves in the ' Works of Samuel Johnson, London, 
1713.' "—Life of Cassius M. Clay, vol. i. p. 18. 

2 Parton's Life of Jefferson, p. 203. 



Ch. I.] CLAY'S YOUTH 11 

years of widowhood. It is related as indicative of her spirit 
that she indignantly threw into the fireplace some money 
left on her table by one of Tarleton's officers to pay for 
property of hers taken on one of his raids through the 
county. But the correct account of the incident out of 
which the story arose was doubtless recounted by Clay 
himself in a political speech delivered in 1840. "I was 
born a democrat," said he, "rocked in the cradle of the 
Revolution, and at the darkest period of that ever -memo- 
rable struggle for freedom. I recollect, in 1781 or 1782, 
a visit made by Tarleton's troops to the house of my mother, 
and of their running their swords into the new-made graves 
of my father and grandfather, thinking they contained 
hidden treasures. Though not more than four or five years 
of age, the circumstance of that visit is vividly remembered, 
and it will be to the last moment of my life." 

As soon as he was old enough he aided in such ways as 
he could in the support of the family, which depended on 
the produce of some indifferent land in the " Slashes," as 
the region was known. Barefooted and coarsely clad, he 
often followed the plough. It was his duty to replenish 
the meal -barrel, which he did by taking the grist to Darri- 
cott's mill, on the Pamunky. The bag was his saddle, and 
with a rope bridle he guided the pony he rode. It is prob- 
able that he performed similar errands for others, for he 
was commonly called by the people along the route the 
" Mill-boy of the Slashes " — a sobriquet that always clung 
to him. 

In the neighboring district- school, taught in a log-cabin 
by an intemperate Englishman named Peter Deacon, he 
received his only regular education, which consisted of the 
mere rudiments. At the age of fourteen he was placed in 



12 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1791-1837 

a retail store at Eichmond, where he worked for nearly a 
year. He then sought, through the hopeful efforts of his 
step-father — probably inspired by the boy's budding ambi- 
tion — a position in the office of the Clerk of the High Court 
of Chancery. There was no vacancy, but he was neverthe- 
less installed by the influence of a brother of the clerk, who 
was a friend of Captain Watkins. 

His first entrance into the office was long remembered by 
his fellow-clerks. Plain of features, overgrown and ungainly 
for his years, and clothed in rustic fashion, he presented a 
rather curious appearance. " His mother had dressed him up 
in a new suit of Figinny cloth, cotton and silk mixed, com- 
plexion of pepper-and-salt, with clean linen well starched, 
and the tail of his coat standing out from his legs at an 
angle of forty-five degrees, like that of a dragoon. The 
clerks looked askance at each other, and were not a little 
amused at the apparently awkward chap who had been 
thrust in upon them." 1 But they were not long in dis- 
covering that " Harry " was like the toad in the adage. His 
natural gifts were even then not wholly undeveloped, and 
he speedily rose in the estimation of his companions. 

It was this early introduction to politics that opened the 
way to his career. His faithful and competent attention to 
his duties was observed by all with whom he came in con- 
tact, particularly by Chancellor Wythe — a distinguished 
character in a distinguished time. Wythe was a scholarh T , 
liberal-minded gentleman of the true Virginian school, a 
signer of the Declaration of Independence, an able jurist, 
and the Chief of the High Court of Chancery. It was, 
therefore, no small compliment to Clay that he should be 



Colton's Life of Clay, vol. i. p. 20. 



Ch. I.] CLAY'S STUDIES 13 

chosen as the Chancellor's amanuensis. He acted in that 
capacity for four years. His duties at first were very exact- 
ing and laborious, as the subject-matter of the Chancellor's 
dictation — he being unable to write because of a tremulous 
hand — was strange to him ; besides, he was required to copy 
quotations in Latin, of which he was wholly ignorant. 

This situation — or rather relation, from the warm interest 
of the Chancellor in the promising youth — was an inestima- 
ble advantage to him. It might well seem providential 
were it not that uncommon capacity usually attracts patrons. 
Besides a livelihood, it gave him character in the commu- 
nity and brought him into constant observation of perhaps 
the ablest bar in the countiy. He made the most of the op- 
portunity, which was his only means to remedy his extreme 
lack of education. His habits were studious and exem- 
plary; his reading, tastes, and aspirations were guided by 
his venerable friend. His leisure was mostly devoted to 
books; but his reading appears to have been desultory — 
Harris's Hermes, Tooke's Diversions of Purley, Lowth's 
Grammar, and various historical works. Perhaps a further 
indication of his studies during this time is contained in a 
letter to his son James, written in 1837. " Your resolution 
to study," he wrote, " and to begin with history, is a good 
one, and I hope you will persevere in it. Gillies's Greece, 
with Plutarch's Lives / Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the 
Roman Empire ; Tacitus ; Hume, with the continuation ; 
Russell's Modern Europe ; Ilallam's Middle Ages ; Robert- 
son's Charles V., Indies, etc. ; Marshall's Life of Washing- 
ton ; Botta's History of the American Revolution. These 
books and others may be read with advantage ; and } T ou 
should adopt some s} T stematic course as to time — that is, to 
read so many hours out of the twenty-four." 



11 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1796-7 

Under these circumstances it was natural that he should 
decide to pursue the profession of the law. Accordingly, in 
the latter part of 1796, in his twentieth year, he entered the 
office of the Attorney - General, Robert Brooke, as a law- 
student. Within a year he procured a license to practise. 
While his regular novitiate was of itself inadequate to pre- 
pare him for the bar, his long association with the Chan- 
cellor was undoubtedly a valuable training in the principles 
and application of equity jurisprudence, and was probably 
so considered in hastening his admission to practice. 

Concerning this early period of Clay's life there is but 
little positive information. Though Richmond was a city of 
but five thousand inhabitants, it was the social and political 
centre of Virginia. Despite the levelling influences of the 
Revolution, the subsequent abolition of primogeniture and 
entail and the progress of Jefferson's political principles, 
there still remained strong aristocratic tendencies, which 
largely dominated society. Yet that society was ever 
ready to open its doors to character and ability, and Clay 
was accorded the attention and respect of such men as 
John Marshall, Edmund Pendleton, and Spencer Roane. 
Instead, however, of remaining in Richmond, he decided to 
settle in Lexington, Kentucky. " The public attention was 
at that time strongly drawn to Kentucky as a field especially 
propitious to the enterprise of the young. Members of the 
most respectable families of Virginia had already emigrated 
to that State, and the marvels of its rapid growth and 
teeming prosperity were recounted with such commenda- 
tion as to rouse a general fervor in behalf of settlement in 
this Eldorado of the West." l Moreover, Kentucky was still 



1 Kennedy's Life of Wirt, vol. i. p. 92. 



Ch. I.] CLAY'S LIFE AT LEXINGTON 15 

practically a colony of A T irginia, most of her people, cus- 
toms, laws, and institutions being thence derived. Clay's 
decision may also have been influenced by the removal to 
that country of his mother and family several years- before. 
But doubtless he sagaciously perceived that the surround- 
ings would yield him congenial opportunities and a better 
immediate prospect than he would find in Richmond or any 
other town in his native State. 

"When Clay settled in Lexington, in 1797, the Indian 
troubles, which gave the State its name (Indian for dark 
and bloody ground), had long been subdued by Daniel 
Boone and his successors. "Within a decade the population 
of the State had trebled, and was then nearly two hundred 
thousand. The settlement of Lexington began thirty-two 
years before and had advanced with remarkable rapidity. 
The original pioneers and their descendants formed but a 
small portion of the towns-people, who constantly increased 
in number by fresh arrivals, bringing with them more or 
less of the cultivation and habits of life acquired in the 
older States. Schools were soon established and improved. 
The Transylvania Seminary was founded in 1788, and in a 
few years developed into a university. But, though Lexing- 
ton possessed more of the refinements of the East than any 
other place west of the Alleghanies, it was essentially a 
frontier town. The free and hearty spirit of the original 
settlers still prevailed, and with it many of the character- 
istics of such a population. Drinking, gaming, and horse- 
racing were general diversions. Social distinctions were 
practically unknown. To the situation in which Clay now 
found himself his popular genius was perfectly suited. 

The wisdom of his course was soon manifest. " I remem- 
ber," said he in his old age, " how comfortable I thought I 



1G THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1797 

should be if I could make one hundred pounds, Virginia 
money, per year, and with what delight I received the first 
fifteen -shilling fee. My hopes were more than realized. 
I immediately rushed into a lucrative practice." 

At that period debating societies were very generally in 
vogue. Clay had been a diligent member of one in Rich- 
mond, and immediately joined another in Lexington. He 
attended several meetings of the Lexington club without 
participating in the discussions. One evening, however, 
after a long debate, and as the question was about to be put, 
he remarked to some one near him that the subject did not 
appear to him to have been exhausted. The chairman was 
informed that Mr. Clay desired to speak. He accepted the 
invitation then given him and attempted to proceed. In his 
extreme embarrassment he opened by sa} r ing, " Gentlemen 
of the jury." This caused some merriment in the audience 
and more confusion to himself, for he repeated the blun- 
der, which was probably caused by his practice of making 
speeches to imaginary juries in preparation for his debut in 
court. But he quickly recovered his composure, and spoke 
with such unexpected eloquence and power as to gain en- 
thusiastic applause and admiration. While yet a boy his 
conversation was noticeable for its ease and propriety, and 
his earliest efforts in public discussion displayed a singular 
force and fluency of diction. His associations had been such 
as to spur and improve this natural gift. He was an eager 
listener to the eminent counsel who appeared in the Rich- 
mond courts ; twice he heard Patrick Henry, one occasion 
being that of Henry's greatest forensic argument, in the 
case of the British debts, which Wirt so graphically describes. 
But during this time, what was more directly to the purpose 
was the efficient exercise he followed privately, as indicated 



Ch. I.] CLAY'S EARLY TRAINING 17 

by his mistake in the debating club. The importance he 
attached to this training, as well as a glimpse of his youthful 
ambition, is shown by a statement made by him many years 
afterward before a class of law - graduates. " I owe my 
success in life," said he, "to one single fact — namely, that at 
an early period I commenced and continued for some years 
the practice of daily reading and speaking the contents of 
some historical or scientific book. These off-hand efforts 
were sometimes made in a cornfield ; at others in the forest ; 
and not infrequently in some distant barn, with the horse 
and ox for my only auditors. It is to this practice of the 
art of all arts that I am indebted for the primary and lead- 
ing impulses that stimulated my progress and have shaped 
and moulded my entire destiny." ' His presence was im- 
pressive and commanding; his voice the perfection of 
human tones. "With these great gifts he possessed a genial, 
generous temperament, keen discernment of character, 
practical judgment, and ready tact. 2 Such qualities found 



1 "Oratory was esteemed the first attribute of superior minds, and 
was assiduously cultivated. There were few newspapers, and the press 
had not attained the controlling power over the public mind as now. 
Political information was disseminated chiefly by public speaking, and ev- 
ery one aspiring to lead was expected to be a fine speaker. This method, 
and the manner of voting, forced the open avowal of political opinion." — 
Sparks's Memories of Fifty Years, p. 22. 

2 "Of all the men I have known, Clay had more of what is called, in 
modern times, magnetism. He was quite tall, yet commanding, and very 
graceful in manner and movement. He had the most wonderful voice in 
compass, purity, and sweetness, and which, with the whole science of 
gesticulation and manner, he sedulously cultivated. ... In this Clay 
had a great source of power. There was also a natural common-sense, 
which, in him and Abraham Lincoln, outweighed all the culture in books 
of their great rivals. . . . Tims Mr. Clay, in the backwoods, where men 
are seen more in their real characters than in older societies and cities, was 
better able to understand them (and men are at bottom much the same 
everywhere), or any audience elsewhere. . . . Mr. Clay had a very highly 

2 



18 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1797-1806 

their best arena in jury practice, where his powers were 
so transcendent that none of the many persons charged 
with murder whom he defended were condemned to death. 
His early professional years abound with anecdotes of his 
exploits, some of them almost magical and romantic. 

He was never deterred from performing his professional 
duty by fear of consequences. The barbarous arbitrament 
of duelling to settle personal grievances was nowhere rec- 
ognized and practised more generally than in Kentucky; 
and Clay's known disposition to maintain his honor at the 
peril of the pistol no doubt made his forensic adversaries 
careful to avoid offence. Only once was he drawn into an 
'•affair" through conduct in court. Colonel Joseph II. 
Daviess, a prominent Federalist, and the United States 
district -attorney for that region, had assaulted a tavern- 
keeper named Bush, at Frankfort. The details of the oc- 
currence are not known, but presumably it grew out of an 
altercation provoked by politics and whiskey, after the com- 
mon fashion of that day and country. Such was the awe 
of Daviess's influence that Bush could not procure an at- 
torney in Frankfort to act for him. He then applied to 
Clay, who promptly brought suit against Daviess in Lex- 
ington. In the course of the proceedings Clay criticised 
the conduct of the Colonel, who, after the adjournment of 
the court, sent a note to Clay, remonstrating against his 
language and expressing the wish that he would not persist 
in his course. Clay replied that he had undertaken the cause 
from a sense of duty, and that he would conduct it accord- 
ing to his own judgment, holding himself responsible in 



developed nervous structure and temperament, by which, as in war, all 
his forces could be at once rapidly concentrated on one point of attack." — 
Life of Cassius M. Clay, vol. i. p. 88. 



Ch. I.] CLAY'S FEARLESSNESS 19 

or out of court for what he said and did. Daviess then 
sent a challenge, Avhich Clay accepted. Through the in- 
fluence of mutual friends the difficulty was settled on the 
field where the duel was to be fought. Another instance 
of Clay's fearlessness was in behalf of a man who had suf- 
fered extreme hardship b}' incurring the hostility of a gang 
of backwoods ruffians known as " Regulators." At the risk 
of his personal safety, Clay volunteered his services, and by 
obtaining a heavy verdict for exemplary damages effectually 
broke up the lawless pest. 

Clay was repeatedly urged to accept the office of district- 
attorney, but criminal prosecution was so distasteful to 
him that he had declined the position. He was finally 
induced, however, to take it for a short time, hoping to 
procure the appointment of a friend whom he desired to 
have the place. He was immediately called upon to prose- 
cute a slave, who, in defending himself from the brutalit} r 
of an overseer, had killed his assailant with an axe. The 
slave was uncommonly intelligent and proud, and his case 
aroused much interest and sympathy. Had he been free, 
his act at most would have been manslaughter; but as 
slaves were required by the law to submit to chastisement, 
the offence was legally that of murder, whatever the palliat- 
ing circumstances. The negro was convicted and executed ; 
but he died with such fortitude and manly spirit that Clay 
deeply deplored his participation in the trial. He imme- 
diately resigned his commission ; and whenever afterward 
the subject was mentioned he spoke sorrowfully of the fate 
of the unfortunate slave. 

Clay's extraordinary success as an advocate might be 
readily imagined from his subsequent public life. It is not 
surprising, therefore, that so remarkable a man should have 



20 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1806 

made such rapid progress under the circumstances then ex- 
isting in that frontier country. The fame he soon achieved 
is evidenced by his being retained (though he declined to 
accept a fee) by Aaron Burr, himself one of the most adroit 
of lawyers, when the first efforts were made to indict him 
in Kentucky, in 1806. And Clay's high personal standing 
is at the same time illustrated by the fact that Burr's im- 
munity was then largely due to his unqualified pledge to 
Clay that he was not engaged in any unlawful or improper 
designs, which Clay implicitly believed. Besides his celeb- 
rity in criminal practice, he gained high reputation for his 
skill in the conduct of causes arising out of the mixed state 
of the land laws and titles. 1 It is not unlikely, as tradition 
indicates, that his success in the latter as well as in the 
former class of cases was occasionally aided by his fertile 
and dramatic dexterity. In older communities, where con- 
ditions and relations are more varied and involved, where 
property and rights are more secure and valuable, and, con- 
sequently, where jurisprudence is matured more to a nicely 
adjusted science and the practice to a minutely defined 
system, to say naught of the less emotional temper of the 
people, the triumphs of mere advocacy and forensic magic 
are more difficult and rare. 

Clay was not a deep student, and never approached the 
distinction of jurist which marked Webster's intellectual 
supremacy. 3 - Even had his tastes been scholarly, he would 



1 "I have heard it stated that the Kentucky bar was at that time supe- 
rior to the bar of any other State. This was perhaps attributable to the 
fact that every acre of ground was covered over by conflicting law-claims." 
— Coleman's Crittenden, vol. i. p. 14. 

8 "'In the course of my professional life,' said Mr. Webster, 'it has 
happened many times that I found myself retained in the same cause with 
Mr. Clay. He was my senior by several years, in the profession and in 



Ch. I.J CLAY'S CHARACTERISTICS 21 

have found little time or necessity for the prolonged and 
ramified thought essential to eminence at the Eastern bar. 
But his tastes were not of that kind, except so far as re- 
lated to the cultivation of his potent art of speech — and 
that was never distinctly literary. He was convivial, san- 
guine, and restless. His leading characteristic was action, 
not reflection. The movement of his mind was rapid and 
rhetorical ; hence it was not laborious and profound. Such 
a mind is attracted by prominent externals ; it sees vividly, 
but forms its deductions peremptorily: the crystal clearness 
of its partial perceptions endangers complete and propor- 
tioned judgment. Thus Clay's extraordinary gifts were at- 
tended by their corresponding defects. Whatever knowl- 
edge he acquired was alwa} T s and entirely at his service ; 
and this frequently had the effect of obscuring the need of 
more. His fragments of knowledge he wielded as the 
Titans the rocks ; this almost inevitably rendered his prin- 
cipal fault as incorrigible as it was imposing. 

It has been urged that his lack of systematic education 
proved a practical advantage to him by increasing the self- 
reliance that was the most magnetic and imperial attribute 
of his leadership. But, on the other hand, so competent a 
critic as Schurz implies that a thorough early training 
would have made him more cautious in forming opinions 
and less commanding in his advocacy of them, but would 
have led him to avoid grave errors as a statesman. Such 



age. That fact gave him the right to speak first in all such cases. Often, 
before beginning my argument, I have had to lahor hard to do away with 
the effect and impression of his. Some of the most labored acts of my 
professional life have consisted in getting matters back to the starting- 
point after Clay had spoken. The fact is, he was no lawyer. He was a 
statesman, a politician, an orator, but no reasoner."' — March's Reminis- 
cences of Webster, p. 217. 



22 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1799-1829 

conjectures, it may be ventured, have but little value. Men 
of great genius, which is not least a matter of tempera- 
ment, are not materially changed by any cause ; circum- 
stances may favor, modify, or suppress, but do not trans- 
form, their qualities. If Clay's public policy was wrong in 
any main features, it was not owing to his lack of collegiate 
training, but to a natural fault or bias of his mind — or to 
politics. * It is doubtless true that with other preparation 
and surroundings his career would have been different ; 
not in character, however, but in degree. More likely, in 
that event, we should have been deprived of the historical 
Henry Clay ; the history of the country would be different. 
As it was, his native powers developed to their fullest pitch 
speedily and with perfect freedom. The atmosphere in 
which he moved was charged with the chivalrous and un- 
inquiring spirit of the South and West. There were no 
customs, standards, or rivalries formidable enough to im- 
pede his early growth and rise. But a youth, he plunged 
into the current of important affairs. Before he reached 
maturity he had gained the experience of middle age and 
the prestige of his genius. 

The qualities that gave him his peculiar force at the bar 
were those also to give him popularity and power in the 
sphere of politics. In truth, the courts were too narrow a 
theatre for him. Notwithstanding his marvellous skill, 
the vocation of settling personal and property differences, 
and keeping the accused from jail or the gallows, could not 
long be satisfying to a man of his mould, whatever the 
rewards; 1 and civil litigation in the East, much less in the 



1 " Your friend Clay has argued before us with a good deal of ability ; 
and if he were not a candidate for higher office I should think he might 
attain great eminence at this bar. But he prefers the fame of popular 



Ch. I.] CLAY FAVORS GRADUAL EMANCIPATION 23 

West, did not involve the wealth and weight concerned in 
later times when corporate interests began to assert their 
expansive force in society. That he would take part in poli- 
tics was inevitable. 

His first political efforts were in the cause of abolishing 
slavery. Soon after his arrival in Lexington a convention 
was called to meet in 1799 to revise the constitution of the 
State. Not more than one-fifth of the population (about 
forty thousand) were slaves; nor was slavery deeply engraft- 
ed on the nascent social structure of the commonwealth. 
It was therefore very practicable to effect by the new con- 
stitution the gradual emancipation of the blacks. This plan 
was adopted in Pennsylvania in 1780, through the charac- 
teristic counsel of Franklin ; it had already been followed 
in Connecticut; and w T as then being agitated in New York, 
where it succeeded two years later. Clay forthwith joined 
it, and zealously labored in its behalf. He began by con- 
tributing a series of articles to the Kentucky Gazette, over 
the signature " Scaevola." He then boldly championed the 
cause before public meetings. He was prompted both by his 
feelings and the opinions he had imbibed from Chancellor 
Wythe, Avho with other leading characters — among them 
Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Henry, and Marshall — had 
vainly sought to extinguish slavery in Virginia in the same 
mode. In Kentucky, as in the mother State, the movement 
was confined to a small and select circle, and did not suc- 
ceed. Clay and his coadjutors were "overpowered by num- 
bers," as he said in a speech at Frankfort in 1829. But he 
always regarded his action with unchanged convictions. 1 



talents to the steady fame of the bar." — Judge Story to Dodd, March, 
1823. 

1 "The sentiment, however, had taken deep root. It continued with 



24 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1798 

In the Frankfort speech he expressed his regret over the 
result, which he admitted had placed Kentucky in the rear 
of her free neighbors "in the state of agriculture, the prog- 
ress of manufactures, the advance of improvements, and 
the general progress of society." For some years he set the 
example — followed half a century later by Dana, Seward, and 
other Northern advocates — of volunteering his professional 
aid, whenever occasion offered, to such as sought their free- 
dom by means of the law. Nevertheless, he very soon be- 
came a slave-holder himself, and remained one the rest of his 
life. Politically, it was fortunate for him that Kentucky con- 
tinued to be a slave State. It was easy for a slave-holder to 
avow antislavery sentiments; for a long time they sounded 
all the more noble at the North, and involved no risk at 
the South. This hybrid policy, while doubtless sincere, 
proved a material resource of Clay's political influence. 

If he suffered any unpopularity through his course on 
the slavery question, which is not improbable, it was more 
than counteracted by his participation at about the same 
time in the excited opposition to the Alien and Sedition 
laws. These extraordinary statutes were enacted in 1T98 
by a Federalist Congress. Although much modified in scope 
and detail after their introduction, enough remained to give 
them that despotic character which renders them a notorious 
topic in our political history. They mark the extreme and 



increasing strength until the Rebellion, when it proved one of the con- 
trolling influences that prevented the State from secession. The increase 
of free blacks is fairly to be taken as an indication of the antislavery 
propaganda that began with Henry Clay." — Shaler's Kentucky, p. 155. 

"In Kentucky, as lam told by several gentlemen of high standing, 
there is so strong an opposition to slavery that the chief slave-holders 
have long feared to call a convention to alter the Constitution, though 
much desired, lest measures should be adopted that might lead to gradual 
emancipation." — Niles's Register, vol. xviii. p. 27 (1820). 



Ch. I.] KENTUCKY'S REPUBLICANISM 25 

fatal stretch of the Federalist doctrine. Among other, but 
less obnoxious, features, they gave the President power to 
banish alien residents whom he might judge to be dangerous 
to the, country, and to imprison them if they did not leave 
within the time he fixed. They also made it a felony to 
libel the government, either House of Congress, or the 
President. The principal design was to suppress the chief 
Republican journalists, mostly foreigners, whose intemperate 
advocacy of French Republicanism was harassing and hate- 
ful to the Federal party. The excitement they kindled, 
fanned by the adroit management of Jefferson, was more 
intense in Kentucky than elsewhere. 

Kentucky was admitted into the Union but six years 
before. The struggle for separation from Virginia had 
been long and acrimonious ; to accomplish it, even foreign 
alliance had been threatened. Separation achieved, the 
most pressing desire and problem were to free the navigation 
of the Mississippi, which was under the control of Spain, 
then allied with England. It was so vital to the develop- 
ment of the State, and so plainly proper, that it seemed a 
natural right of which the State should not be deprived for 
any reason; and the demand was loud for the national 
government to secure it — if necessary, by force. 1 Little 
concern, however, was apparent in that quarter for this or 
any of the peculiar interests of the West. This indifference 
was largely ascribed to Eastern hostility, and therefore to 
the Federal party. When Genet, the rashly officious French 



1 " There are those now living [1850] in the valley who can remember 
that the possession of the delta of the Mississippi by Spain was fast sepa- 
rating the East and the West. A delay of five years in the purchase of 
Louisiana would have dismembered the Union and created a separate 
government in the valley." — Democratic Review, vol. xxvi. p. 11. 






26 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1798-1806 

ambassador, projected an expedition against Spanish Loui- 
siana, an enthusiastic friendship for France was aroused. 
Numerous societies were formed, patterned after the Jacobin 
Clubs, and an active French sentiment soon pervaded the 
State. But after Genet's presumptuous follies were quenched 
by Washington and a treaty with Spain had been effected 
opening the Mississippi, with a place of deposit at New 
Orleans, there set in a strong reaction, which was furthered 
for a time in the early part of 1798 by the piratical demands 
of the French Directory disclosed by the famous " X. Y. Z. 
Mission." Nevertheless, at heart, Kentucky was still the 
most radically anti-Federal of all the States ; and when the 
Federalists, in the over- confidence of their sudden pop- 
ularity, committed the amazing mistake of enacting the 
Alien and Sedition laws, Kentucky's former Republican- 
ism vehemently revived. The excitement that soon raged 
almost reached the pitch of frenzy. All the machinery 
with which the Kentuckians, through their prolonged efforts 
for independence, were peculiarly familiar was set in motion. 
Public meetings were held throughout the State, at which 
the odious laws were violently denounced. At one of the 
first and largest of these gatherings, Clay, then in his 
twenty-second year, was called to speak. George Nicholas, 
an experienced lawyer and politician, had preceded with a 
long and able address ; but the thrilling power of Ckiy's 
impassioned harangue on the menaced liberties of the people 
so affected the crowd that an opposing orator was silenced, 
and Clay and Nicholas were shouldered, put in a carriage, 
and drawn by shouting men through the streets of Lexing- 
ton. Clay, of course, continued to be a prominent and 
efficient actor during the commotion, the outcome of which 
was the celebrated Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, 



Ch. I.] CLAY IN THE LEGISLATURE 27 

adopted by the legislatures of those States, and destined to 
become the canon of the future doctrines of nullification 
and secession. 

After this, aside from speaking in support of Jefferson's 
election in 1800, Clay devoted his entire attention to the law 
until 1803, when, in his absence and without his knowledge, 
he was made a candidate for a seat in the State Assembly. 
It was induced by a desire to place Clay in a position to 
oppose a movement which had been started to repeal a law 
creating a Lexington insurance company. This movement 
was led by Felix Grundy, who, years afterward, was a 
Representative and Senator from Tennessee. There was 
much local interest in the subject, and Clay was selected by 
the friends of the company as best adapted to perform the 
desired service. The election had been in progress a day 
or so before a poll was opened for him. Returning at this 
juncture, and learning the situation, he accepted the candi- 
dacy and was elected. He not only accomplished the par- 
ticular object for which he was chosen, but his power in 
debate quickly won for him the leading position in the 
legislature. Whenever he spoke at length a quorum could 
not be maintained in the other House. The rapidity of his 
political progress equalled that which he had made in his 
profession. So high was his standing that he was elected 
to the Senate of the United States at the first opportunity. 
This occurred in 1806, when John Adair resigned his seat 
because of his complicity with Burr. 

When Clay took the oath as Senator, December 29, he had 
not attained the age of thirty, as prescribed by the Consti- 
tution. His eligibility, however, was not questioned ; but in 
after-years he was charged with the act as a wilful violation 
of the Constitution, and it can hardly be supposed that he 



28 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1807-8 

acted in ignorance. 1 The vacancy he was elected to fill 
was only for one session, ending March 3, 1807. He took 
part in the most important proceedings, served on various 
committees, and introduced several resolutions, one of them 
proposing a Constitutional amendment concerning the judi- 
cial power. He not only entered freely into the debates, but 
in his first speech took occasion to rebuke an old member 
for his manner of assuming superior wisdom, and amused 
the Senate by quoting from Peter Pindar : 

"Thus have I seen a magpie on the street, 
A chattering bird we often meet ; 
A bird for curiosity well known, 

With head awry, and cunning eye, 
Peep knowingly into a marrow-bone." 

He created a favorable impression as an orator, although 
he had no opportunity to exhibit his powers to the best advan- 
tage ; yet some grave Senators, unaccustomed to Clay's 
energetic style in their small chamber, thought it rather de- 
clamatory. " This session of Congress," he wrote to a friend, 
"has not been so interesting as I had anticipated. JNo 
questions in relation to our foreign intercourse involving 
much discussion have been agitated ; everything depends 
upon the result of pending negotiations, and this will not be 
known, it is probable, until the session expires." His first 
speech, which was very gratifying to those who were locally 
interested, was in support of a bill to provide for the erec- 



1 " "While welcoming Mr. Clay to Boston as chairman of a young men's 
committee, in the autumn of 1833, I found that he was indisposed to have 
this early breach of the Constitutional requirements alluded to or inquired 
into with much particularity. 'I think, my youug friend,' said he, 'we 
may as well omit any reference to my supposed juvenile indiscretions.'" 
— Winlhrop's Addresses, vol. iv. p. 41. 

Claihorne's election to the House from Tennessee, in 1803, was a similar 
lapse, for he was not twenty-five years of age. 



Ch. L] CLAY IN THE SENATE 29 

tion of a bridge over the Potomac at Georgetown. The 
measure to which he gave most attention was preliminary 
to the proposed construction of a canal in Kentucky, at the 
rapids in the Ohio River. By his attitude in regard to these 
subjects he espoused the doctrine that Congress possessed 
Constitutional power to promote internal improvements, al- 
though in so doing he disagreed with Jefferson, who in his 
annual message recommended a Constitutional amendment 
as necessary to give the power. Clay also advocated na- 
tional aid to the Chesapeake and Ohio canal, and a resolu- 
tion calling upon the Secretary of the Treasury to submit 
to the Senate at the next session a report on the policy and 
plan of a system of improvements. The report was made, 
but it was not until some years later that the subject as- 
sumed political importance. Clay regarded his service at 
this session as a recreation. He was also before the Su- 
preme Court in several cases. In his social relations, which 
he cultivated, he was much admired and esteemed. 1 Prefer- 
ring not to neglect his law practice, he declined a re-elec- 
tion ; but he was immediately returned to the State Assem- 
bly, despite an unseemly opposition grounded on his having 
acted as Burr's counsel. 

During his former service in the Assembly the discussions 
had all related to local topics ; they now took a wider range. 
Portentous foreign troubles had begun to disturb the tran- 
quillity which the country had previously enjoyed under 
Jefferson's administration. Political differences, which had 
slumbered for some time, were stoutly renewed. The 
chronic Western aversion for Great Britain was displa} T ed 
in a senseless, but not wholly novel, way. It was proposed 



1 Life of William Plumer, p. 351 ; Adams's Diary, January 15, 1807. 



30 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1811 

to forbid the use of any British legal citations whatever in 
the courts of the State ; and the proposition was favored by 
a large majority. The administration of justice, it was 
urged, should not be governed by the decisions of foreign 
courts, particularly those of Great Britain. Clay had the 
judgment and courage to oppose the measure, notwithstand- 
ing he shared the sentiment that induced it. But his 
method was the same as that which he emplo} r ed on several 
historic occasions long afterward — he proposed a com- 
promise. He moved to limit the prohibition to the period 
after the Declaration of Independence, and supported the 
motion by resounding argument and a just and brilliant 
eulogy of the common law. His motion prevailed, and 
arrested the demagogic folly that threatened the juris- 
prudence of the State. 1 

At this session he was Speaker. At the next, Humphrey 
Marshall, formerly a United States Senator, and the leader 
of the small contingent of Kentucky Federalists, appeared 
in the Assembly for the purpose of making war on Clay and 
the Republican party, and Clay remained on the floor be- 
cause of the greater freedom it gave him. He did not wait for 
attack, but soon introduced a series of emphatic resolutions 
denouncing the conduct of Great Britain toward our mari- 
time commerce, pledging to the government the co-opera- 
tion of Kentucky in resisting British aggressions, and laud- 
ing Jefferson and his policy. Marshall proposed resolutions 
to the contrary effect ; but he had the mortification of vot- 
ing alone for them after delivering a harsh invective against 
those which Clay had offered and advocated in his charac- 
teristic manner. Following the whim of the day, Clay next 



1 A similar law had been enacted in New Jersey in 1801, and the exam- 
ple was followed in Pennsylvania in 1S10. 



Ch. I.] DUEL BETWEEN CLAY AND MARSHALL 31 

proposed a resolution declaring that every member of the 
legislature should wear clothing of domestic manufacture 
only, to manifest his practical devotion to the policy of en- 
couraging American industry, which w T as already popular 
in Kentucky, partly because of the hostile feeling against 
England. This was Clay's first effort in behalf of the sys- 
tem which he contributed more than any one else to estab- 
lish as a distinct national policy. Nothing could have 
been better calculated to inflame Marshall's hostility and to 
afford him an opportunity to exercise his talent for abuse. 
He abandoned himself to his violent animosities, and applied 
to Clay and his resolution a variety of offensive and insult- 
ing epithets, to which Clay responded with vigor and free- 
dom. The consequence was a challenge from Marshall to a 
duel, which Clay promptly accepted. They met and fired at 
each other twice, each receiving a slight wound. At this 
point the seconds intervened and ended the combat. Pre- 
sumably the principals regarded the demands of honor as 
satisfied. 1 

In the town of Hebron, Ohio, there still lingers the tradi- 
tion of a peculiar sequel to this duel. For several years 
subsequent to 1S09 the middle counties of Ohio were infested 
by gangs of horse-thieves. The leader of the Licking County 
gang was one Eli Marshall, who was generally regarded as 
the most dangerous desperado in the West, a giant in stature, 



1 " It was calculated with certainty by Clay's friends at Louisville (oppo- 
site to which, on the Indiana side of the Ohio River, the fight took place) 
that Marshall would be killed or badly wounded. Mr. Clay, in this event, 
was to be welcomed on his return from the scene of the combat by a dinner 
provided by his friends. He was not in condition, of course, to partake of 
it, but tradition goes on further to relate that he returned the compliment 
of his friends by giving them card-parties in his room during the whole 
time he was confined to it by his wound." — Headlands in the Life of Henry 
Clay, No. 1, p. 2. 



32 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1809 

and a villain every inch. For a long time the farmers near 
Hebron had remained unmolested, but finally they were raid- 
ed and their best horses taken. Of the party that was organ- 
ized and pursued the gang six were killed, and as a result 
the community was in a state of terror. During this excite- 
ment, Clay was on his way to "Washington over the national 
road. He was advised to accept an armed escort, but he 
declined. One afternoon immediately afterward he stopped 
at the " Licking Arms," a hostelry in Hebron. As a heavy 
rain was falling, it was decided to travel no farther until 
the next day. In the evening a large number of citizens 
gathered at the tavern to pay their respects to Clay ; and 
in the course of the conversation the subject of the recent 
depredations was discussed. Clay freely expressed his opin- 
ions on the subject. He said he had no fear of being 
molested, and, furthermore, that he would not mind meeting 
Marshall and calling him to account. 

This remark was probably reported by a spy ; at all 
events, Marshall and three of his gang came to the tavern 
after the people had dispersed. Clay was in his room writ- 
ing letters when he was informed of the situation by the 
landlord, who reported that Marshall demanded to see him. 
Clay sent back the reply that he never complied with de- 
mands. Marshall forthwith came up the stairs, threw open 
Clay's door, and strode into the room — but to look into the 
muzzle of a pistol. At Clay's command he halted, deposited 
his weapons on a chair near him, and then stepped into an 
adjoining store-room. Clay securely fastened the door and 
went down-stairs. There the other three desperadoes were 
overawed in the same manner, disarmed, and bound. Return- 
ing above, Clay released Marshall from the store-room and 
bade him sit down and explain his object in perpetrating such 



Ch. L] CLAY AND THE HORSE-THIEF 33 

an outrage. He replied that he was a second cousin to Hum- 
phrey Marshall, with whom Clay had fought in 1808 ; that 
he had been told that the duel was not finished because Clay 
showed cowardice ; and that he had made up his mind to 
compel Clay to apologize to him for the injury done his 
kinsman. Clay then proposed that they go to the large 
room below and take three shots at each other. Marshall 
agreed and asked for his pistol ; but Clay refused to restore 
it until they were ready to shoot. He directed the landlord 
and his son to stand with their pistols close to Marshall 
until the word was given to fire, and to shoot him if he 
made a move to turn before the word. By this time Mar- 
shall was pale and trembling. He showed the craven, and 
finally refused to fight. Clay then made him get down on his 
knees and apologize both to himself and to the landlord for 
the outrage, and to sign a paper acknowledging that he was 
a coward. This done, he was bound, and, with the other 
three ruffians, delivered over to the authorities. Whether 
or not this story is true, Clay was entirely capable of the 
action ascribed to him, and was so regarded by the people 
of that region. 1 

The session at which the duel with Marshall occurred 
terminated Clay's service in the State legislature. He was 
again elected to the Senate, this time to fill a vacancy for 
two years. If he had previously hesitated to enter upon a 
public career in the national arena, it is quite apparent 
that he had now overcome his indecision. Few details 



1 This tradition was first published with considerable detail in the Louis- 
ville Courier Journal, in June, 1896, and afterward in the New York Sun. 
It is there related that the prisoners managed to escape ; but that the gang 
was soon broken up, Marshall and one other fleeing into Virginia, where 
they were captured and hanged to a tree. Marshall's sheath-knife, it is 
said, was sent to Clay, and is still in possession of the family. 
3 



34 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1810 

of his history during this early period are known, but it 
may be assumed that his circumstances had improved to a 
degree that warranted him in yielding to the ambition his 
brilliant success thus far undoubtedly stimulated. 

He re-appeared in the Senate February 5, 1810, and im- 
mediately renewed his activity in that body with that in- 
dependence and initiative which always characterized him. 
Our foreign relations and maritime troubles were growing 
daily more threatening, and the warlike spirit, particular- 
ly in the West, was rapidly rising. It was doubtless this 
situation that furnished Clay's main incentive for returning 
to the Senate. The long -continued system of commercial 
restrictions — non-importation, embargo, and non-intercourse 
— was nearly exhausted. It was always obnoxious to one 
party, and was now becoming unsatisfactory to the other. 
That Clay was ready to advocate war he soon made mani- 
fest. The existing restrictive act was to expire with the 
session. To meet the situation, a bill proposed by the ad- 
ministration was passed by the House, after much wrangling, 
to exclude from our ports all British and French vessels, 
and to admit British and French merchandise only when 
directly imported in American bottoms ; but to permit the 
renewal of trade, upon the proclamation of the President, 
with the power that rescinded or changed its decrees so as 
no longer to violate our neutral trade. Shortly after Clay's 
return to the Senate the bill was there taken up and an 
amendment carried striking out all the provisions except 
those to exclude belligerent ships of war. February 25, 
Clay moved to recommit the bill, and delivered a passionate 
speech against the emasculation of it. This is the first of 
his reported speeches, and it is doubtful whether it was taken 
fully or with verbal accuracy, though it sufficiently discloses 



Ch. I.] clay favors NATIVE INDUSTRIES 35 

his belligerent views. His motion was defeated, but be 
voiced a sentiment that soon became controlling. His speech 
was the inception of the leadership he soon acquired. 1 The 
bill failed, as the two Houses could not agree ; but another 
bill less stringent in character was enacted in place of it. 

Clay spoke frequently, but not again at length until April 
6, when he addressed the Senate on the " encouragement of 
home industry." The question arose on a motion to strike 
out an amendment to an appropriation bill directing the 
Secretary of the Navy to give preference, in purchasing sail- 
duck, cordage, hemp, flax, and the like, to domestic produc- 
tions, whenever it could be done without material detriment 
to the public service. It evoked discussion of the general 
policy of promoting manufactures. Immediately after Clay's 
speech against it the motion was defeated, 9 to 22. Never- 
theless, the House struck out the provision, and the bill be- 
came a law without it. It was probably thought more dig- 
nified and equally advantageous to leave the matter wholly 
to the discretion of the Navy Department ; indeed, had the 
provision been enacted it could have had no effect without 
the concurrence of the department, which was alone to 
determine what was to the "detriment of the public ser- 
vice." According to Clay's own statement, the progress 
already made in the production of those articles was good 
evidence that those industries were quite independent of 



1 "Clay's speech marked the appearance of a school which was for fifty 
years to express the national ideas of statesmanship, drawing elevation, of 
character from confidence in itself, and from devotion to ideas of national- 
ity and union which redeemed every mistake committed in their names. 
In Clay's speech, almost for the first time, the two rhetorical marks of his 
generation made their appearance, and during the next half-century the 
Union and the Fathers were rarely omitted from any popular harangue." 
— Adams's History of the United States, vol. v. p. 190. 



36 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1810 

governmental aid. And this view was strongly reinforced 
in a report on manufactures presented to Congress by 
Gallatin not long after Clay's speech. The significance 
of Clay's views at this time is that he was far more 
moderate in his advocacy of protection than he afterward 
became; for even then a distinctly protective policy was 
favored by many. So far as he expressed his opinions, 
he apparently differed little from those who were free- 
traders in principle, but who approved such incidental en- 
couragement to domestic production as would not involve 
extra burdens of taxation. 

Besides participating in the debates, he was industrious 
in the routine duties of legislation. Among numerous sub- 
jects that engaged his attention were bills to grant pre- 
emptive rights to settlers upon the public lands, and to 
regulate trade and intercourse with the Indians. On each 
of these bills he drew a committee report which dis- 
played just and sagacious views. He no doubt felt at 
the close of the session a greater degree of satisfaction 
than he had experienced during his former service in the 
Senate. It was unmistakable that he was a rising man. 
His genius as a parliamentarian and his attractive personal 
qualities were ungrudgingly admired. He was rapidly per- 
fecting himself in the art that, with his mind and per- 
sonality, was to make him a potent character in politics 
and legislation through a long career. The time was pro- 
pitious — events were approaching a climax suited to bold 
and self-reliant men. Clay had neglected no opportunity, 
and could look forward with confidence to a position of 
conspicuous influence. 

The next session of Congress convened December 3. 
Ten days later Clay was in his seat, and on Christmas Day 



Ch. I.] CONFLICTING TERRITORIAL CLAIMS 37 

he delivered the most able and telling speech he had thus 
far addressed to the Senate. 

The southeastern boundary of the Louisiana purchase 
was not precisely defined ; and with the progress of settle- 
ment in West Florida, conflicting claims to that territory 
by Spain and the United States had inevitably arisen, as 
our negotiations for the purchase of Florida had not suc- 
ceeded. Spain claimed title to the Mississippi, and the 
United States to the Rio Perdido. Our government, how- 
ever, had not taken possession, and the Spanish flag flew 
unmolested from Baton Eouge to Pensacola, until in the 
summer of 1810, when the increasing population — composed 
of various nationalities, with a large portion from the 
United States — imitating the example of many of the 
Spanish - American provinces, declared independence, after 
some confusion, and applied for annexation to the United 
States. Madison then performed an act that for him was 
of extraordinary audacity. In October he issued a proc- 
lamation asserting our title to the territory, and direct- 
ing its annexation to Orleans. He professed to be actu- 
ated by the desire to prevent further disorder in the dis- 
trict, and announced that the seizure would, notwithstand- 
ing, be "the subject of fair and friendly negotiation and 
adjustment " with Spain. Nevertheless, the declaration of 
independence and the application for annexation were re- 
buffed as an impertinence. Measures were at once taken to 
enforce the edict between the Mississippi and the Pearl 
rivers ; beyond the Pearl the confusion still continued. 
Madison, of course, stated the situation to Congress at the 
opening of the session, and a bill, in conformity with his 
proclamation was introduced in the Senate. The proceed- 
ing met with intense approval in the "West, but was opposed 



38 THE JACKSOXIAN EPOCH [1810 

by the Federalists. The principal speech against the bill 
had been delivered by Horsey, of Delaware. Clay imme- 
diately replied. While his animated speech — in which he 
again vigorously denounced the conduct of Great Britain 
toward this country — bears some marks of being extempo- 
raneous, its decided superiority over his previous reported 
utterances suggests that it had been thoroughly considered. 
Before Madison's proclamation the press of Kentucky and 
Tennessee had energetically argued the importance of our 
acquiring exclusive control of the Gulf coast, and that if we 
did not take possession of "West Florida, England, by some 
means, would. It is probable that Clay's perfect familiar- 
ity with the treaties and the President's justification of his 
course, unsound in law but sound in policy, was derived 
from Madison, who doubtless selected him to present the 
case to the Senate. This supposition is aided by his subse- 
quent leadership in the proceedings. Pickering, of Massa- 
chusetts, a zealous Federalist, quoted, in replying to Clay, a 
letter from Talleyrand to Jefferson, which had been confi- 
dentially communicated to the Senate by Jefferson in 1805. 
Clay at once moved a resolution censuring him for his breach 
of the rules, and procured its adoption. 

While this debate was in progress, Madison sent to Con- 
gress a secret message asking for authority to take posses- 
sion of West Florida, and that a declaration be made that 
the United States could not, unconcerned, see the Floridas 
pass from Spain to any other foreign power. This message 
was accompanied by a letter from Folch, the Spanish gov- 
ernor of the Floridas, offering to surrender the whole terri- 
tory to the United States if Spain should not send him suc- 
cor by the first day of January. The situation was further 
complicated by the application of Louisiana (Orleans terri- 



Ch. L] ACQUISITION OF THE FLORIDAS 39 

tory) for admission into the Union. The final result was 
the enactment of the usual preliminary law for the admis- 
sion of Louisiana, including the small part of West Florida 
between the Mississippi, the Iberville, Lake Maurepas, and 
Lake Pontchartrain ; of another authorizing the President 
to take possession of East Florida if the local authorities 
assented, or should any foreign power attempt to occupy 
it; and the adoption of a joint resolution declaring, pur- 
suant to the President's request, that, in view of the situa- 
tion of Spain and her American colonies, it was impossible 
to see without alarm any part of the territory pass to any 
foreign power, and that safety required our occupation of 
the territory, but subject to future negotiation. By a sub- 
sequent law these acts and resolutions concerning East 
Florida were not to be promulgated before the end of the 
next session of Congress; and they were not until about 
the time of the treaty by which Spain ceded the Floridas 
to the United States, and thus closed the train of controver- 
sies which had arisen in relation to this domain. The bill 
concerning "West Florida was dropped, and the situation was 
left as it was. At the next session, however, all that part 
of West Florida west of the Pearl was added to Louisiana, 
which was then admitted into the Union. The rest of the 
tract was incorporated into the Mississippi territory not- 
withstanding the Spanish garrison at Mobile. At this ses- 
sion also a bill to authorize the President to take posses- 
sion of Florida entire, and establish a government over it, 
was passed by the House ; but it was factiously defeated in 
the Senate. 

These subjects gave Clay a rapid experience in the larger 
statecraft of the period ; and this, with the increasing defer- 
ence shown him, doubtless increased his confidence in his 



40 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1811 

powers. He entered into the discussion of the most im- 
portant topic before Congress with such assurance and in- 
trepidity that the position he took caused him much em- 
barrassment later. 

The charter of the Bank of the United States, enacted 
in 1791, was about to expire, and the renewal of it was 
urged upon Congress. Both Madison and Gallatin opposed 
the bank as unconstitutional when it was established, but 
had gradually changed their opinions. It had performed 
important functions in the finances of the government and 
the country by supplying a sound and uniform currency, 
facilitating exchanges, aiding in the collection and custody 
of the public revenues, and in various operations of the 
Treasury. Hence Gallatin, the ablest financier of the pe- 
riod, deemed it of great moment that the bank should be 
continued, particularly in view of the possibility of war. 
Its termination would cause a large export of specie to pay 
the foreign stockholders, and would produce for a long 
time a serious contraction of the currency, besides a de- 
terioration in the character of the inevitable issues of the 
State banks. But notwithstanding the strong support it 
received from many important business interests, a strong 
sentiment had arisen against the recharter. The Constitu- 
tional objections to a national bank were strongly renewed. 
The legislatures of several States, and among them Ken- 
tucky, instructed their Senators to oppose the recharter. 
The old cry was raised that the bank was an aristocratic 
monopoly adverse to the spirit of our institutions. As two- 
thirds of the stock was held abroad, the bank was charged 
with being controlled by foreign influence and with send- 
ing its profits abroad. It was also accused of favoritism 
in its accommodations, and consequently of being a politi- 



Ch. L] CLAY AND THE UNITED STATES BANK 41 

cal factor — the remaining bulwark of Federalism. The 
local banks were also clamorous in their opposition, for the 
policy of the bank imposed a decisive check on their pro- 
fuse issues of paper, which customers were eager to pro- 
cure, and, failing, were instructed that their misfortune was 
due to the hostility of the Bank of the United States to the 
State banks. The people were thus moved by a desire to 
put down the institution. Moreover, the proposed plan of 
recharter was unsatisfactory to many, and opposed for that 
reason. But underneath all this was a political movement, 
extending even into the cabinet, to hamper Gallatin and 
banish him from office. "While it is not probable that Clay 
was influenced by this political design, he did not hesitate 
to join the motley opposition. On April 6 he expressed 
himself in the most effective speech delivered against the 
bill.' Several Senators in favor of it had preceded him, 
Crawford, of Georgia, having spoken with great ability. 

Clay, as usual with him at this time, opened his speech 
in a vein of sarcasm that displayed his self-confidence, 
which, in the absence of the charm of his personal inter- 
course, would have been regarded as presumptuous and 
offensive. His first objection to the bill was that it would 
not become operative without the assent of the bank's di- 
rectors, thus placing them superior to Congress. He then, 
contrary to his previous views in relation to internal im- 



1 Concerning this speech, Washington Irving wrote : "Clay, from Ken- 
tucky, spoke against the bank. He is one of the finest fellows I have 
seen here, and one of the finest orators in the Senate, though, I believe, 
the youngest man in it. The galleries, however, were so crowded with 
ladies and gentlemen, and such expectations had been expressed concern- 
ing his speech, that he was completely frightened, and acquitted himself 
very little to his own satisfaction. He is a man I have great personal re- 
gard for." 



42 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1811 

provements, took the ground of the strict -constructionist, 
and argued against the Constitutional power to establish a 
bank — the chief subject on which, years afterward, he led 
the great contest with Jackson, but as the advocate of the 
opposite doctrine. The argument against implied powers of 
the Constitution has never been more felicitously stated. 1 
He denied the utility and expediency of the bank, and pro- 
nounced it " a splendid association of favored individuals 
taken from the mass of society and invested with exemp- 
tions and surrounded by immunities and privileges." He 
also descanted on the danger in the union of the sword 
and the purse, and allowing foreigners to own stock in the 
bank. To the suggestion that British capital invested in 
this country exerted an influence over the British govern- 
ment in our favor, he replied with great fervor, and added : 
" It has often been stated, and although I do not know that 
it is susceptible of strict proof, I believe it to be a fact that 
this bank exercised its influence in support of Jay's treaty ; 
and may it not have contributed to blunt the public senti- 
ment or paralyze this nation against British aggression ?" 
Nevertheless, the commercial and moneyed interests of Great 
Britain were afterward enlisted in the abrogating the Brit- 
ish policy, and they finally exerted a decisive influence in 
bringing the War of 1812 to a close. 2 



1 In 1837 he said: "I was present as a member of Congress on the oc- 
casion of the termination of the charters of both of the banks of the 
United States, took part in the discussion to which they gave rise, and 
had an opportunity of extensively knowing the opinions of members ; 
and I declare my deliberate conviction that upon neither was there one- 
third of the members in either House who entertained the opinion that 
Congress did not possess the Constitutional power to charter a bank." 

'•'Clay admitted this in a speech on the tariff in 1820. "Our late 
war," said he, "would not have existed if the counsels of the manufact- 
urers in England had been listened to. They finally did prevail in their 



Ch. I.J CLAY'S POLITICAL ADVANCEMENT 43 

The opposition to the recharter succeeded — yet barely suc- 
ceeded. In the Senate the bill was defeated by the casting 
vote of the Vice-President. In the House a like bill was 
rejected by a vote of 65 to 64. Happening at that juncture 
of affairs, the result proved a serious misfortune to the 
country ; and Clay, who could probably have prevented it, 
soon regretted his action. 1 

The only other business of importance transacted during 
the remainder of the session was the enactment of a law re- 
viving non-intercourse with Great Britain. The bill encoun- 
tered no difficulty in the Senate, but its passage by the House 
was signalized by the adoption of the rule of the previous 
question to terminate the dilatory tactics of the opposition. 
The government had reached a state of truly pitiful weak- 
ness. Our foreign relations were in a contemptible plight, 
while the feebleness of the domestic polic}^ caused by the 
timidity of Madison and the want of vigorous support in 
Congress, had brought the administration into a precarious 
situation. The time had at last arrived when energy was 
indispensable. Madison yielded to forceful counsels ; there 
was no other escape from the dilemma in which he was 
placed. Smith, the inefficient Secretary of State, was dis- 
missed, and Monroe took his place, with a disposition to 
retrieve our humbled national dignity. But what was still 
more important, Clay was selected to assume the leadership 



steady and persevering effort to produce a repeal of the Orders in Couu- 
cil, but it was too late to prevent war." 

1 Martin Van Buren, from the bias of his political principles, ranked 
Clay's speech higher than it deserves. "It [the bank controversy] gave 
position to Henry Clay as one of the strong minds of the country, derived 
from his speech against rechartering the bank, by far the best speech he 
ever made, and nearly equal to that of Madison in 1790." — Van Buren's 
Political Parties in the United States, p. 413. 



44 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1811 

in Congress. His hour had come. He decided to retire 
from the Senate and enter the House. He was readily- 
elected, and on his first appearance in that body, Novem- 
ber 4, 1811, in his thirty-fifth year, he was chosen Speaker 
— the only instance where the position has been given to 
a new member. 

This political rise entitles Clay to rank among the most 
precocious men notable in civil history ; and this is rendered 
still more remarkable by the age he attained without dimi- 
nution of his powers and influence. The beginning of the 
parliamentary career of Fox, Pitt, Canning, or Gladstone is 
hardly more extraordinary, if we consider the differences 
in training and surroundings. Although none of Clay's 
speeches before his second service in the Senate were pre- 
served, they were not less effective, judging from tradition 
and results, than those of his later years. Certainly his 
speech " On the Line of the Perdido " is equal in all the 
elements of skilful debate to any he ever pronounced. 
Precocious display of this order, however, is not the product 
of sheer oratorical genius. Capacity for affairs and the 
management of men that is requisite to success in the 
higher grades of politics indicates a proportionately superior 
mind, and is usually accompanied by a considerable faculty 
for public speech of one type or another ; but the period 
when the powers of such a mind are revealed depends upon 
favoring circumstances, be it early or late. 

At this time Congress had not attained much prestige 
among the people. The best -known statesmen had ac- 
quired their reputation for the most part during the Revo- 
lution and the period preceding the adoption of the Consti- 
tution. They were not in Congress. A new state of things 
and a new generation of public men were making their 



Ch. I. J A NEW ORDER OF STATESMANSHIP 45 

appearance. Since the Kevolution, not only the form of the 
government but the general situation had changed. During 
the war few of the bearings and necessities of expanding 
nationality, now rapidly presenting themselves, were dis- 
closed. The establishment of the Constitution was naturally 
followed by a stage that may be likened to molecular change. 
Conditions, foreign and domestic, had arisen that called for 
a new order of statesmanship. Congress, which had thus 
far been little more than the echo of the executive depart- 
ment, began to assume in the public eye the place belong- 
ing to it as the prime political factor under .the Constitu- 
tion. What may be termed the parliamentary period now 
opened; and the character it soon derived owes much to 
the example of Henry Clay. 



CHAPTER II 

Maritime Aggressions of England and France — The Restrictive System — 
Clay as Speaker of the House — Preparations for War — Madison Accepts 
Clay's Programme and is Re-elected — The Embargo and the Declara- 
tion of War against England — The Political Aspect of the War — Clay's 
Reply to Quincy— The Treaty of Ghent— The Effect of the War— The 
Bank of the United States — Clay's Change of Opinion in Regard to it — 
The Tariff of 1816 — The Policy of Internal Improvements, Madison's 
Veto, and Monroe's Hostile Position — Clay Opposes Monroe's Adminis- 
tration — He Advocates Internal Improvements and the Recognition of 
the South American Republics 

"When Clay entered the House, at the opening of the 
Twelfth Congress, it was perfectly suited, unlike the Senate, 
for a theatre of debate. It had one hundred and forty-two 
members and but eight standing committees, and most of 
its important business was transacted in committee of the 
whole. It had only lacked the occasion to develop its qual- 
ity as a debating body, and the occasion was now supplied 
by the complications that resulted in the war with Eng- 
land. 

For nearly thirty years England had harassed our mari- 
time commerce. Prior to 1805 the difficulties so caused 
had been smoothed or smothered ; but wi^h Fox gone and 
Canning in power her depredations increased in number 
and her admiralty rulings in rigor, to the havoc of our 
neutral carrying trade. For twenty years our vessels had 
been boarded and our seamen impressed into her naval ser- 
vice, both aggressions springing from the unlimited assump- 
tion of the right of search. It is not to be doubted, however, 



Ch. II.] MARITIME TROUBLES 47 

that the boldness of our traders, instigated by the immense 
profits of success, led to the perpetration of gross frauds 
upon England during the wars of the period, through forged 
British licenses and the use of the American flag to cover 
belligerent property. The status of impressment was some- 
what similar. It had been practised by England at home 
from an early period, and notoriously during the American 
Revolution. 1 And if she had been previously compelled 
thus to recruit her navy, her need was now the greater. 
In consequence of the European wars the growth of our 
commerce was phenomenal, and chiefly at the expense of 
the British. It had also proved a serious detriment to the 
British marine, whose sailors were attracted in large num- 
bers to our sea-service, where they were better paid, better 
fed, and better treated. Few of them were or could be 
naturalized, and therefore entitled to protection as American 
citizens. Besides, the British government did not recognize 
the right of naturalization. In the effort to capture Brit- 
ish subjects, many of them being deserters from the royal 
service, native Americans, whom they closely resembled in 
speech and appearance, were often taken. 2 Yet such deser- 
tions were not discouraged by our government ; on the con- 
trary, deserters were knowingly mustered into our naval 
service and their surrender refused. 

In view of the great events occurring in Europe our 
national interests seemed insignificant, and England, as her 
own cares increased in the contest with Napoleon, grew 
more indifferent to our just complaints — if, indeed, she were 
disposed to regard any as being just. The name of America 
was still odious to the governing classes. The poignant 



1 nail's Retrospect, p. 48. • Xiles's Register, vol. i. p. 148. 



48 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1811 

recollection survived of the many millions sterling of con- 
fiscated debts and of the millions more appropriated to 
compensate banished Tories and pension American place- 
men. 

Meantime, Napoleon's treatment of our interests was only 
less injurious and ignominious. By her Orders in Council, 
England had first put qualified restrictions upon neutral 
trade ; these had been answered by Napoleon's Berlin decree 
to similar effect. Then followed still more sweeping Orders 
in Council, responded to by Napoleon's Milan decree, which 
was at once imitated by Spain and Holland, his subject 
nations. 1 The effect of these measures was to place America, 
as well as most of commercial Europe, under a paper block- 
ade, and subject most of the vessels of our maritime com- 
merce to seizure. There is no period in modern history so 
characterized by such wide and flagrant disregard of inter- 
national law. England, by such operations as the piratical 
capture of the Spanish treasure-ships and the Danish fleet, 
and the attack on the Chesapeake, seemed to emulate on 
sea Napoleon's example on land; while at home the most 
stringent and despotic laws were enforced. 2 Nevertheless, 



1 "Whatever the merits of the system," says Bourrienne, in his Memoirs, 
"and although it was the cause of war between the United States and 
England, its execution did most damage to France and England, and to 
baud all Europe against it. . . . The Emperor gave me so many orders 
for army clothing that all that could be supplied by the cities of Hamburg, 
Bremen, and Lilbeck would have been insufficient for executing the com- 
missions. I entered into a treaty with a house in Hamburg, which I 
authorized, in spite of the Berlin decree, to bring cloth and leathers from 
England. Thus I procured those articles in a sure and cheap way. Our 
troops might have perished of cold had the Continental system and the 
absurd mass of inextricable decrees relative to English merchandise been 
euforced." 

2 Spencer's Principles of Sociology, vol. ii. pp. 626, 632 ; Buckle's Post- 
humous Works, vol. i. pp. 230, 242-3 ; vol. iii. p. 465 ; Lecky's England, 
vol. iii. p. 581. 



Ch. II.] CLAY AS SPEAKER 49 

a social and intellectual movement, destined to bring in a 
liberal era, had already well begun ; and a conspicuous sign 
of that movement was Brougham's assault on the Orders in 
Council, succeeding just too late to avert the war. 1 

Despite our grievances and the contempt with which our 
diplomatic remonstrances were received, the growth of pop- 
ular feeling was slow. The mass of the people knew little 
and cared less about the epistolary discussions of ministers 
and diplomats, and the commercial depredations were chiefly 
felt at the seaports. Jefferson was horrified at the possible 
prospect of war, equally justifiable against England, France, 
and Spain. The need of some defensive course was recog- 
nized, with arbitrary supineness, by a series of commercial 
restrictions under penalties and forfeitures, beginning in the 
fall of 1806 : first, partial non-intercourse, then non-importa- 
tion, then non - intercourse, then again non- importation. 
Madison, whose administration began in 1S09, had fallen 
heir to Jefferson's pacific sentiments and timorous policy. 
But the restrictive system was extremely unpopular in 
quarters most directly affected by it. New England, in 
particular, more generally concerned in shipping than any 
other portion of the country — perhaps more than all the 
rest combined 2 — was vehemently opposed to any inter- 
ference with commercial freedom, whatever the risks of 
going to sea and whatever the considerations of national 
honor. 3 



1 Life and Times of Brougham, vol. ii. pp. 1, 23 ; Levi's History of 
British Commerce, p. 118. 

2 "Six towns in New England possessed more than one -third of the 
tonnage of the whole Union." "A single State then possessed four times 
as much shipping as was owned hy England in the reign of Elizabeth." — 
Curtis's Life of Webster, vol. i. pp. 94, 106. 

8 Garland's Life of Randolph, vol. ii. p. 49. 
4 



50 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1811 

Clay professed as his reason for changing to the House of 
Representatives that he " preferred the turbulence of the 
House to the ominous stillness of the Senate." This was 
doubtless true, but it was an open secret that the growing 
war party, recognizing his peculiar powers, wanted him in 
the House, where war measures would most effectively origi- 
nate and the popular ear be best obtained. 1 In fact, the 
want of efficient Republican leadership in that body had 
been the main cause of the feeble and dilatory polic3 r more 
hurtful than war. The leaders of the opposition were John 
Randolph, nondescript, and Josiah Quincy, 2 Federalist, 
neither of whom has during the history of Congress been 
surpassed in caustic, truculent speech. Randolph had been 
the torment and the terror of the House. He spoke on 
all subjects, in season and out of season. Able as he was 
at times, he was desultory and interminable, and his indis- 
criminating and unsparing invective had become intolerable. 
To curb him was understood to be a part of Clay's new func- 
tions, which the preceding Speakers, Macon and Varnum, had 
not satisfactorily exercised. 3 In his brief speech on taking 
the chair he gave a distinct intimation of this purpose. 
" Should the rare and delicate occasion present itself," said 
he, " when your Speaker shall be called upon to check or 
control wanderings or intemperance in debate, your justice 
will, I hope, ascribe to his interposition the motives only of 



1 " Not long after the opening of Congress, Randolph said to a friend con- 
cerning Clay and Calhoun : ' They have entered this House with their eye 
on the Presidency, and, mark my word, sir, we shall have war before the 
end of the session.' " — Garland's Life of Randolpli, vol. i. p. 806. 

2 He was first elected to the House, from Massachusetts, in 1800. "He 
was twenty-eight years old, but this was regarded then as so infantile an 
age for a member of Congress that the Democratic papers called aloud 
for a cradle to rock the Federal candidate in." — Life of Quincy, p. 60. 

3 Prentice's Life of Clay, p. 62 ; Sargent's Life of Clay, p. 41. 



Cn. II.] WAR MEASURES 51 

the public good and a regard to the dignity of the House." 
And he was not long in demonstrating the wisdom of his 
election. Under his guidance debate became orderly and 
pertinent, and markedly improved in quality. As a presid- 
ing officer he has had no superior. Notwithstanding his ex- 
uberant temperament, his decided opinions, and his politics, 
his impartiality was rarely impugned after the rules of the 
House were settled. He was continued Speaker so long as he 
remained in the House — with three brief absences, until 1825, 
longer than any one else who has held the position. 1 

Foreign affairs were, of course, the paramount topic before 
Congress. After much duplicity, and nearly as much spolia- 
tion as England had committed, Napoleon professed to revoke 
his decrees as to American vessels, although he did not en- 
tirely cease to enforce them, while England refused to treat 
upon any of the difficulties. Thus the war party was ready 
to accept Napoleon's conciliatory professions, if for no other 
reason than to direct the energies of the country against 
England alone, at best an unpropitious undertaking. As a 
sole policy, restriction could no longer be maintained. The 
disastrous effects of the system on the business and commerce 
of the country had wrought a political revolution. Half the 
members of the House at this session, which was convoked a 
month earlier than the regular day, were there for the first 
time, and the ablest of these were young men who were to 

1 " He was in a sense a law unto himself. . . . He betrayed to me one 
of the characteristic secrets of his success, more than thirty years after- 
wards, when I had the honor of occupying the same chair. ' I have atten- 
tively observed your course as Speaker,' said he, to me one day most kindly, 
'and I have heartily approved it. But let me give you one hint from the 
oldest survivor of your predecessors : Decide — decide 'promptly — and never 
give reasons for your decisions. The House will sustain your decisions, but 
there will always be some to cavil and quarrel about your reasons.'" — 
Winthrop's Addresses, vol. iv. p. 42. 



52 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1811 

achieve distinction. They were for war. Clay, by position as 
well as by ability, was the leader of the war party, and he 
organized the proper committees to declare its sentiment and 
initiate its policy. Madison, timid and faltering in the pres- 
ence of the approaching conflict, was nevertheless nerved to 
a sufficient degree of belligerent energy to recommend in his 
message that the country be put "into an armor and attitude 
demanded by the crisis and corresponding with the national 
spirit and expectations." Congress soon responded. In the 
House, the select committee on foreign relations made a 
stirring report imbued with warlike sentiments, and sub- 
mitted a series of resolutions in favor of increasing the army, 
placing the vessels of the navy in commission, and permit- 
ting merchant-men to arm. The resolutions were adopted 
after a vigorous debate, and were followed by an act provid- 
ing for the addition of twenty -five thousand men to the 
army for five years. By another act the President was em- 
powered to accept the service of fifty thousand volunteers ; 
but this act was vitally defective, as events proved, by not 
granting authority to use this force across the borders. A 
bill was then reported in the House to repair and fit for ser- 
vice the existing navy (which consisted of six frigates and 
ten smaller vessels, but not a ship of the line), to construct 
ten new frigates of thirty-eight guns, to purchase timber 
for future use, and to build a dry-dock. But through the 
chronic Republican antipathy to a navy and the remarkable 
lack of appreciation of its utility, the latter provisions were 
defeated. 

For a time the failure of the effort to strengthen the navy 
had a dispiriting effect. It caused serious dissensions. A 
bill to provide for a uniform militia was defeated ; another 
to arm the militia was passed by only a small majority ; and 



Ch. II.] REPUBLICAN INDECISION AS TO WAR 53 

a resolution for the appointment of a committee to frame a 
bill for a provisional army of twenty thousand was defeated. 
Such was the pique of some who favored increasing the 
navy. The war leaders had temporarily lost control of their 
party. Some degree of unity, however, was restored in the 
effort to raise the means to pay for what had already been 
authorized; and a bill for a loan of eleven millions was 
enacted. Most that had thus far been accomplished was 
by the aid of the Federalists, who said little, but did what 
they could to bring on the war, in the belief that it would 
be a failure, and by reaction cause the overthrow of the Re- 
publican party. They even confided their views to the Brit- 
ish minister. But now that the Republicans were brought 
to the necessity of determining the question of war or peace, 
they hesitated to take the decisive step. Many were averse 
to war, but dreaded the disruption of the party ; others were 
indifferent. It required all the energy and fertility of re- 
source possessed by Clay, Calhoun, Cheves, Lowndes, and 
Porter to hold their wavering ranks together. Their efforts 
w T ere somewhat aided by the " Henry Letters," which were 
purchased by the government for fifty thousand dollars from 
one John Henr3 T , an Irish adventurer, who had prowled 
through the Eastern States, at the suggestion of the Gov- 
ernor of Canada, in quest of information. It was contended 
that they disclosed a British design to promote the seces- 
sion of New England. In fact, they proved nothing except 
the extreme exasperation of that section against the re- 
strictive system ; and this feeling had long been displayed 
in speech and in print with the utmost license. But to 
haters of all that was British they served their transient 
purpose. They were submitted to Congress on March 9. 
Madison, naturally, was anxious to be re-elected, and the 



54 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1812 

time was nearly at hand for the party nomination to be 
made. That he was reluctant to consent to war was well 
understood; but his success depended upon the support of 
the war leaders. He received their support, was renomi- 
nated by the Congressional caucus, and subsequently re- 
elected. It was common rumor that he was compelled to 
accept their programme as the condition of his re-election. 
It is beyond doubt that Clay presented that programme to 
him, and that it was afterward carried out. Clay denied that 
he exercised any coercion ; but it is not improbable that 
Madison was influenced by the desires of those whose aid he 
most needed, however those desires may have been communi- 
cated. April 1 he sent a message to Congress, proposing a 
general embargo for sixty days. A bill in compliance with 
it was quickly passed by the House, Clay supporting it in a 
vehement speech "as a direct precursor of war." 1 To give 
it the appearance of a desire for further negotiations, the 
Senate extended the time to ninety da} r s. The House con- 
curred in the amendment, and on the 4th it became a law. 
Had an ultimatum been sent to the British government, 
as many desired, the delay alone would have averted war. 
April and May passed without further important action 
by Congress. Only by the greatest pressure was a recess 
from May 28 to June 9 prevented. The war party was in 
a state of uncertainty and discouragement. The placing of 
the loan had progressed with disheartening slowness, and the 
elections in Massachusetts and Kew York had resulted in 
favor of the Federalists. The outcry against the embargo 
was growing daily louder and more angered. Then came 
the information that the British government persisted in 



1 Sargent's Life of Clay, p. 39. 



Ch. II.] WAR DECLARED 55 

its refusal to revoke the Orders in Council. Inaction was 
no longer deemed possible. "No choice remained," de- 
clared Madison, long afterward, " but between war and 
degradation." June 1 his war message was delivered to 
Congress. Three days later a bill to declare war was passed 
by the House, 79 to 40. The Senate was more deliberate; 
but on the ISth it passed the bill, 19 to 13. The Senate's 
amendments were forthwith accepted by the House, and the 
bill was immediately signed by the President. The next 
day the proclamation of war was issued. 

The Republicans had practically exchanged principles 
with the Federalists. They had gone as far in compassing 
the Louisiana purchase, under the lead of Jefferson him- 
self, as the Federalists had ever sought to go ; and their re- 
strictive s\^stem was quite as arbitrary, and far more harm- 
ful, than the Alien and Sedition laws. On the other hand, 
the Federalists, now indeed a faction mostly confined to 
New England, vociferously opposed the increase of the mili- 
tary as inimical to liberty, and restriction as the t} 7 ranny of 
centralized government. The opposition became so intense 
in that section that, upon the declaration of war, flags were 
hung at half-mast, bells tolled, and maledictions hurled from 
the pulpits. Secession was openly proposed, and later 
on the famous Hartford Convention debated the proposi- 
tion. 1 

As insulting and injurious as the course of England toward 
the United States had been, there is little doubt but that, 
under all the circumstances — with our want of seasoned 



1 When Quincy was asked what the result of the convention would be, 
he replied : "I can tell you exactly — a great pamphlet." — Life of Quincy, 
p. 358. As to the Eastern disaffection, see ibid. p. 356 ; Memoirs of Dix, 
vol. i. p. 100 ; Life of Story, vol. i. p. 229. 



56 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1812 

nationality, of resources, unanimity, and preparation — it 
was unwise to go to war. The worst features of the situ- 
ation were mainly clue to our own inert policy during a long 
period of years preceding. A vigorous armed assertion of 
our rights in the beginning would probably have prevented 
any extensive injuries and saved our character in the eyes 
of Europe. Certainly, patience for a short time longer, since 
we had borne so much, would hardly have aggravated our 
disgrace, and would have settled the difficulties without re- 
course to war — a dire expedient even under extreme provo- 
cation. However outrageous and however stimulating to 
the patriotism of those in authority, the causes of the war 
were not so serious or so general as to be superior to the 
common motives of interest among the people. There was 
irony in the fact that the concern for " sailors' rights " was 
most warlike remote from the seaboard. The evils com- 
plained of could not be equal to the ravages of war, and the 
most and worst of them had already been suffered with such 
feeble resistance as to amount almost to estoppel. The pur- 
pose of the leaders far exceeded the power of the nation, as 
their enthusiasm exceeded that of the people at large. The 
war was practically a party war. For these reasons there 
was not the occasion for that type of exalted oratory which 
springs from a vital national crisis. The supporters of the 
war were put continually on the defensive. As Clay had 
most to do with bringing on the war, so he was foremost in 
sustaining its prosecution, which was attended with great 
difficulties and little glory, except on sea. The subject was 
adapted to his genius. It appealed to his lofty and im- 
pulsive patriotism ; and it offered the means of furthering 
his ambition and of enhancing the sentiment of nationality, 
which was the best consequence of the war. He had spoken 



Ch. II.] POLITICAL ASPECT OF THE WAR 57 

with great vigor on all the leading measures before Con- 
gress, but his reply to Quincy, January 8 and 9, 1813, was 
incomparably the most brilliant piece of oratory of that 
period. 

The bill declaring war had been hurried through both 
Houses in secret session, thus preventing a full discussion. 
Moreover, the opportunity of the opposition was now at 
its best. "While our meagre navy had gained renown, the 
operations on land had been paltry and unfortunate. The 
attempt to conquer Canada was an utter failure, and Hull's 
surrender of Detroit a profound humiliation. "When, there- 
fore, the proposition was made to increase the army and 
invade Canada the occasion was presented for a critical and 
exhaustive discussion of the causes, conduct, and policy of 
the war. Quincy had watched his opportunity, and at the 
right moment he savagely assailed the measure. He had 
more than plausible grounds. "Within a week after the dec- 
laration of war, and before knowledge of it had crossed the 
ocean, the obnoxious Orders in Council had been repealed. 
Though grievances stood unredressed, the only remaining 
active cause of w r ar was the impressment of our seamen. 
Yet the number of these in captivity at the commencement 
of the war must have been far less than of the lives already 
lost through the hostilities ; and it was now proposed to 
carry on the war for sailors' rights by marching inland upon 
Canada. Quincy surpassed his wonted ability, incisiveness, 
and rancor. He reviewed in his characteristic style the 
history of our foreign relations. He ridiculed the war 
leaders as "young politicians, their pinfeathers not yet 
grown, and however they may flutter on this floor they 
are not yet fledged for any high or distant flight." He 
denounced the proposed invasion as wanton and infamous, 



58 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1813 

and exposed with pungent satire the underlying political 
motives. 1 

The assault was staggering to the war party. Others 
essayed to meet it, but it was felt that no one but Clay could 
cope with Quincy on this occasion, and a few days later 
Clay took the floor. Both speeches were toned down in 
the report, but they still seem like living voices from the 
passions of the time. The grave fault in Quincy's speech 
was its extreme virulence, which Clay was too sagacious to 
return in kind ; his retorts, though harsh, were adroit, and, 
above all, fused with flaming patriotism. The whole per- 
formance was marked by his unrivalled skill and power as 
a debater. 2 The prodigious effect it produced upon Con- 
gress soon spread through the country, invigorating the war 
spirit. 

Patriotic sentiment, however, did not produce success in 
arms. Aside from the noble strokes of the navy, the cause 
sorely suffered. The finances were at the lowest ebb. The 
departments were blighted with incapacity and mismanage- 
ment. New England grew more clamorous and threatening. 
Besides, Napoleon's disasters in Russia would enable England 
to divert her veteran forces to the United States. At this 
ominous juncture there fortunately opened an avenue to 
peace. The Emperor of Russia proposed a mediation between 



1 Life of Quincy, pp. 256, 294. 

2 Quincy expressed this opinion of Clay: "Bold, aspiring, presumptuous, 
with a rough, overbearing eloquence, neither exact nor comprehensive, . . . 
he had not yet that polish of language and refinement of manners which he 
afterwards acquired by familiarity and attrition with highly cultivated 
men. . . . Such was the man whose influence and power more than that 
of any other produced the war of 1812." — Life of Quincy, p. 256. A some- 
what similar impression was created by Webster's early manner. — Life of 
William Plumer, p. 215. 



Gh. II.J ANXIETY FOR PEACE 59 

England, his ally, and this country. So anxious was Madison 
for peace that he eagerly grasped the opportunity. Forth- 
with, and before knowing the disposition of the British 
government, he nominated envoys to St. Petersburg. The 
news now came that England declined the mediation, but 
offered to treat directly. The proposal was accepted, and 
Gallatin, Adams, Bayard, Russell, and Clay were selected as 
plenipotentiaries. 1 

They arrived at Ghent, the place fixed for the negotiations, 
July 6, 1814, a month before the British envo} r s. Some 
time passed before the two commissions could find any 
point or possibility of agreement. The British demands 
were extortionate and humiliating ; they appeared to be 
prompted by the assumption that the United States was van- 
quished and solicitous for peace at any cost. The conditions 
were haughtily rejected. The Americans pronounced as use- 
less any further attempt to negotiate : they had come to pre- 
serve, not to sacrifice, national independence. Their attitude 
was so firm that the British government, which was practi- 



1 "The following, said to be a letter from Washington, dated February 
21, 1814, first appeared in the Boston Gazette, and is called 'interesting.' 
We copy it to preserve a sample of the stuff that floats in the newspapers : 
' After the arrival of the Bramble, and before the nomination of Clay, the 
President sent for him and observed, " There is a proposal from the British 
government to negotiate, and we must have peace. You have driven me 
into this war ; what can you do to help me out of it ?" And it was finally 
concluded that, with a view to conciliate the Southern and Western people 
to peace, that Clay was to go and make a treaty in which no mention was to 
be made about the right of impressment, but enter into the best arrange- 
ment they could make about the practice. Clay was to stand and bluster 
about it at first, but eventually agree to the treaty with the other commis- 
sioners. In the mean time the warlike attitude was to be kept up and prep- 
arations made as if for a vigorous campaign. Clay gave this information 
himself gratuitously ; and I have it from a gentleman upon whom I can 
place the greatest reliance, and I have not the least doubt of the fact.'" — 
Niles's Register, vol. vi. p. 45. 



60 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1814 

cally present at the deliberations of its envoys, wisely deter- 
mined to relax its rigorous demands. It was impolitic to 
give us just grounds for breaking off the negotiations ; and, 
more than this, the commercial classes, whose pressure had 
forced the repeal of the Orders in Council, were strenuous 
for peace. Accordingly, the proposals grew less offensive. 
At the same time, the necessities of our cause grew more 
urgent. At length, Madison sent instructions to treat upon 
a condition that would have existed had the war not oc- 
curred. This basis of negotiation was adopted, and on 
December 24 a treaty substantially to that effect was con- 
cluded. 1 

Clay's objections had been the main obstacle to the 
adoption of this basis of peace. As he had been the chief 
champion of the war, and had even talked of dictating 
peace at Quebec or Halifax, it was deep humiliation to 
sign a treaty silent upon the main causes of the war — 
impressment and the principles of blockade. ISTor were 
these questions ever settled by treaty. The rules that 
now regulate the right of search and seizure were event- 
ually established by the progressive practice of nations, 
and have thus become elementary in the international code. 3 
Time was to evolve our sufficient guarantee. Clay strove hard 
to within a few days before the treaty was signed to break 
off the negotiations ; but when the British commissioners of- 
fered to accept a treaty silent as to the Mississippi, for the 
exclusive control of which the Kentuckian had from the be- 



1 "When it is so notorious that the issue of our late war was at best a 
drawn game, there is nothing but the most egregious national vanity that 
can turn it to a triumph." — Adams's Diary, December 13, 1817. 

2 See Webster's speech on the treaty of Washington, Works, vol. v. 
p. 145 ; Sumner's speech on the Trent case, Works, vol. vi. p. 190. 



Ch. II. J THE TREATY OF GHENT 61 

ginning taken an unyielding stand, he was compelled to con- 
cur, but with extreme repugnance. 1 One of the several 
unexpected results of this singular treaty was that its silence 
upon the British right to navigate the Mississippi, conceded 
by Jay's treaty in 1794, proved as effectual to liberate the 
river as though there had been an express provision for 
that purpose. 

Contrary to the fears of the American envoys, the treaty 
was received with general satisfaction. It was enough that 
peace was attained ; the country was weary of the war. In 
New England the intelligence was greeted by processions, 
the ringing of bells, and general jubilation. In other parts 
of the country it was hailed with less enthusiastic yet grate- 
ful demonstrations. 

After the conclusion of the treaty Clay visited Paris. It 
was there that he heard of Jackson's victory at New Or- 
leans, the battle having been fought after the treaty was 
signed, but before it was known in America. 2 This sug- 
gests the reflection that had Clay been less determined in 
his opposition to the British overtures, the treaty would 
have been signed earlier, the battle would have been pre- 
vented, and the subsequent course of our political history 
would have been different ; for without the prestige of this 



1 Adams's Diary (vol. iii. pp. 1-120) contains a minute and entertain- 
ing record of this mission. 

2 "The news of the treaty of peace arrived in New York on the 
11th of Fehruary, 1S15."— Goodrich's Recollections, vol. i. p. 503. "We 
received the news of Waterloo sixty -five days after the event, when 
Louis XVIII. was on the throne, and Bonaparte was on his way to St. 
Helena. And how much do you think we got in our papers of the 
great transactions that followed after Ligny ? A leading American 
journal devoted a third of a column to the subject, sparing five lines for 
a description of the battle of Waterloo."— Stanton's Random Recollections, 
p. 257. 



G2 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1815 

victory, Jackson would not have been elected President. To 
Clay, at the time, however, the event was keenly gratifying. 
" Now," he exclaimed, " I can go to England without mor- 
tification !" ' 

After the treaty had been ratified, Adams, Gallatin, and 
Clay proceeded to London, where they had been deputed 
to negotiate a commercial arrangement. Several months 
were thus employed, resulting in a convention, which, be- 
sides securing some advantages in the East Indian trade, was 
the first departure from the system of discriminating du- 
ties adopted after the Constitution. 2 Clay reached home 
in September, 1S15, and was unanimously returned to the 
House. 

Congress was in the ascendant. Its superior importance 
in the scheme of the Constitution had been revealed by the 
war, and that importance was to become more dominant 
through the national necessities succeeding the war. Colo- 
nialism in American politics ended with the treaty of Ghent. 
It lends too much importance to the war to say that it 
produced that result ; no single cause howsoever great 
makes, though it may mark, as the culmination of a ten- 
dency, an epoch in national history. The country had 
nearly outgrown that colonial spirit which lingered with 
the persistence due to the associations of two centuries. 
The effect of the war was to hasten the expulsion of that 
influence. Congress had risen with the progress of the na- 



1 " I have heard from undoubted authority that immediately after the 
signing of the treaty of peace at Ghent, Lord Goulburn, one of the Brit- 
ish commissioners, said: 'By this act, gentlemen, you have saved New 
Orleans from capture.' 'No danger of that,' said Henry Clay; 'Jackson 
is there.' " — Recollections of John Binns, p. 242. 

2 North American Review, vol. lvii. p. 318 ; Lyman's Diplomacy of the 
United States, vol. ii. p. 69. 



Ch. II.] A NATIONAL BANK G3 

tion ; it was apparent that the course of development our 
institutions would take chiefly depended on the latitude to 
be exercised by the law-making power. The first division 
of parties after the adoption of the Constitution was induced 
by opposing opinions on this subject. Yet thus far each 
party had been inconsistent with itself and the principles it 
had first declared. When in office each had felt the need 
of power, and so far as possible seized it. But through all 
their contentions and contortions, there had been a constant 
activity of foreign sympathies. Each party was in the 
eyes of the other a French or a British faction. This had 
excluded an unalloyed American ideal. The long period 
of restriction and war turned the thoughts of the people 
upon themselves. They were almost wholly shut off from 
the foreign world, and when peace reopened the way to 
normal relations, the former spirit had been exorcised. At 
home and abroad the country was nationalized. Hence- 
forth the predominant concerns and habits of thought of 
the nation were domestic. 

The foremost problem that confronted Congress at the 
restoration of peace was the distressed financial condition 
of the government and the country. At the beginning of 
the war the finances of the national government were not 
so considerable and complex as those of a modern metrop- 
olis; nor was it long before that the administration of 
them became methodical and businesslike, and appropria- 
tion bills detailed and precise. After the multiplied ex- 
penses of the war were encountered, the Treasury was soon 
in desperate straits. As urgent appeals were made to the 
people for loans of money as had previously been made to 
take up arms. The financial weakness of the government be- 
came so extreme that Monroe, Secretary of War, was com- 



64 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1815 

pelled to pledge his personal credit to obtain the means in- 
dispensable to the defence of New Orleans. The worst 
features of this financial distress resulted from the failure 
to renew the charter of the Bank of the United States, 
which expired in 1811. Disorder of the currency, the most 
ruinous of public ills, quickly followed. A horde of local 
banks sprang into existence, sapping the financial vitality 
of the country by loaning their spurious issues at extortion- 
ate rates of interest. Banks that were solid could remain 
so only by limiting their operations to a degree that was 
disastrous to their debtors. 

In January, 1815, a bank charter was passed by Congress, 
but it was vetoed by the President because of its defective 
plan. He was anxious that a bank should be established on 
a satisfactory basis. Clay had now come to the same con- 
clusion, reversing the opinions he declared in 1811. He 
endeavored to shield his change as much as possible by 
the defects in the plan proposed at that time ; but he had 
nevertheless overcome his Constitutional scruples. And he 
was not alone in changing his views, for Madison had led 
the way and was followed by his party. Despite the strong 
opposition to it, a national bank was probably the only 
means at that time of restoring financial health. It was 
necessitated by the situation, and it was soon justified by its 
operation. Clay's support of the measure marks his com- 
plete acceptance of the theory of broad construction toward 
which he had been steadily tending since his entrance into 
public life. 

Two other subjects, also depending substantially on the 
same Constitutional doctrine, engaged the attention of Con- 
gress at this period — a protective tariff and internal im- 
provements. As to these subjects, Clay's course involved 



Ch. II.] THE TARIFF 65 

no change, although an expansion, of opinion. So far as 
both had previously been acted upon, he had given them 
zealous support. But the} T were now to assume larger pro- 
portions and importance than ever before, and were to find 
in him their chief champion. 

Prior to 1812, numerous tariff laws had been enacted. 
But while they had to some extent increased both the duties 
and the number of dutiable articles, the motive was revenue 
more distinctively than protection. The protective purpose 
was incidental, yet it was gaining in influence. In view 
of all the surroundings, at that period as well as afterward, 
absolute freedom of trade was not a possibility. It was 
inevitable that for the support of the government, duties 
on importations rather than direct taxation would be re- 
sorted to. Direct taxation for national purposes was not, 
and never has been, acceptable to the people ; yet it was a 
favorite doctrine with the Eepublican party, immediately 
preceding Jefferson's administration, that direct taxes are 
preferable to duties on imports, because they are more eco- 
nomically collected, and because the burden of them is more 
accurately known by the people. Thus, with a revenue 
basis, it was not difficult for prospecting capital to intro- 
duce the protective system by a slow and gradual process, 
and, with such an opportunity, this method of introduction 
was quite certain to be instituted. It may be that, with- 
out the aid of extraneous circumstances, protection would 
have expanded into a predominant policy. Tet this was not 
likely, and without reference to the probability of its meet- 
ing an overruling opposition from the South before the 
policy could have acquired sufficient strength and stand- 
ing to maintain a successful struggle. But it was not 
the product of deliberate doctrinal choice. It was pri- 



66 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1815 

marily due to other causes not designed to establish pro- 
tection. 

Except for the lurid events that turned the energies of 
Europe from production to destruction, it is probable that 
the growth of American manufactures would in the end 
have mainly depended on the law of natural selection. It 
was those events that led the Republicans to adopt the 
series of commercial restrictions which had all the effect of 
prohibitive tariffs. It is true that those restrictions were 
flagrantly adverse to sound economics ; } T et it must be ad- 
mitted that what is now held by all competent authorities 
to be elementary in economic science in this regard was not 
generally received at that time. Non-importation, non-in- 
tercourse, and embargo were commonly considered quite as 
properly defensive measures as armament and fortification. 
Nevertheless, the fallacy and harm of such measures were 
then explained in Congress with as much clearness and 
vigor as they have been anywhere since. 

Our people had more or less depended on England for 
articles alike of fashion, comfort, and necessity. In the 
same manner England had depended on this country, in a 
less but increasing degree, for many of our native produc- 
tions, particularly agricultural. For a time after foreign 
importations were stayed the inconvenience of being de- 
prived of those habitual supplies amounted almost to hard- 
ship. Thus constrained, our people began to supply their 
own wants at home to an extent never practised before. 
This private production was soon imitated on a large scale 
by the establishment of many manufactories of various 
kinds. 1 At the close of the war they represented a heavy 



For details of this rapid growth of manufacturing, see JYiles's Register, 



Ch. II.] INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 67 

investment of capital. When the channels of trade were 
reopened there was an immediate influx of cheaper English 
goods. The news of peace alone sufficed to send prices ab- 
ruptly down, to the ruin of many merchants. 1 Investments 
in manufacturing which had prospered through the tem- 
porary misfortunes of the country were threatened with 
disaster. Unless the commercial conditions produced by 
restriction and war were continued by legislation the "in- 
fant industries " would be overwhelmed. So the cry -went 
through the land that capital, labor, and the welfare of 
the country were in danger. Congress was appealed to for 
protection. The claims assumed a patriotic hue. New 
wars might come. Americans should be independent, able 
at all times to rely upon their own resources. England 
was our implacable enemy. Her importation of low-priced 
merchandise, menacing native production, was another hos- 
tile invasion. These interests and opinions combined to 
produce the tariff of 1816. It was the first whose avowedly 
paramount policy was protection ; and it was typical of all 
subsequent protective tariffs in the character and method of 
its construction. 

In the last of the triad of economic problems — internal 
improvements — Clay had, as in the tariff, a local interest 
that early fixed his opinions. The development of the West 
depended much on good roads, by which to send its produc- 
tions to the seaboard with all facility possible. In the West 
communication — to say naught of the transportation of agri- 



vol. i. pp. 343, 390, 406 ; vol. ii. p. 227 ; vol. v. p. 317 ; vol. vi. pp. 173, 198, 
331. 

1 Parton's Jackson, vol. ii. p. 255 ; Diary and Correspondence of Amos 
Lawrence, p. 47; Barrett's Old Merchants of New York (second series), 
p. 372. 



68 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1816 

cultural products by cart and oxen — was at best an arduous 
effort. The coastwise States, by reason of their older and 
denser settlement, were better provided, yet they had need 
of extensive improvements. This need was recognized by 
the many schemes for the construction of roads and water- 
ways that marked the period. These schemes, however, 
were those of State and private enterprise, while the nascent 
West, without the resources of the older East — as well as 
without the benefits arising from the maintenance of fortifi- 
cations, arsenals, and ship-yards — pressed for aid from the 
national government. But what was granted to one sec- 
tion would be demanded by others, and so arose the general 
question of internal improvements. There was a strong 
favorable sentiment ; but such had been the issue over the 
interpretation of the Constitution that many who were best 
disposed toward the policy were forced by their own past 
arguments to deny the power to execute it. They were 
willing that the Constitution be amended so as to provide 
the power expressly ; but that course was deemed inexpe- 
dient, as it would be in danger of defeat by those who 
opposed government control of roads and canals in any 
case, together with those who approved the policy, but who 
believed the power already existed, and were therefore 
unwilling to hazard their Constitutional opinions and the 
political interests dependent on them by a possible adverse 
vote that would operate as a practical construction against 
them. 

Notwithstanding these difficulties, Clay, as we have seen, 
had labored from the first in furtherance of internal im- 
provements. Little, however, had been accomplished beyond 
attracting public interest. After the war the subject took 
great prominence. Clay at once recurred to it as an im- 



Ch. II.] MADISON VETOES INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS 69 

portant feature of his programme. " I would see," said he, 
" a chain of turnpike roads and canals from Passamaquodd y 
to New Orleans; and other similar roads intersecting the 
mountains, to facilitate intercourse between all parts of the 
country and to bind and connect us together." This was 
in January, 1816. In December, Madison, in his last annual 
message, recommended a comprehensive system of roads 
and canals. The usual preliminary process of important 
legislation was immediately started in the House, Calhoun, 
it should be remembered, being in zealous accord with Clay 
in his support of the project, as he was also in regard to the 
bank and the tariff. With all seemly speed a committee 
report was made, depicting the advantages of such a system 
and presenting plans and estimates that called for an outlay 
of twenty million dollars. The report was followed by a 
bill to make the bonus of a million and a half to be paid 
by the new bank for its charter and the share of the gov- 
ernment in its dividends a permanent fund pledged to the 
policy. The bill was passed by both Houses, but it met the 
obstacle least expected. Despite his recommendation, al- 
though it was stated in rather vague and general terms, 
Madison, the day before Monroe's inauguration, vetoed the 
bill as unconstitutional. It is not improbable that the mo- 
tive of the veto was political as well as Constitutional — to 
prevent the prestige that Clay might gain as the successful 
promoter of the policy of internal improvements. Madison 
furnished only a brief statement of his objections; but Mon- 
roe, in whose interest the bill had been vetoed, supplied the 
reasoning at length. In his first message to Congress he 
made bold to announce in advance of further legislation that 
the power to make internal improvements was not granted 
by the Constitution ; but he proposed, as both Jefferson 



70 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1817 

and Madison had done, the impracticable expedient of 
a Constitutional amendment. This announcement extin- 
guished all hope of carrying out the policy during his 
Presidency. But a long debate ensued on resolutions assert- 
ing the power of Congress to appropriate money for internal 
improvements, and also to construct them. The first was 
adopted, but the others were not. In this discussion Clay 
took the leading part. Pie not only defined his Constitu- 
tional and political views more fully and clearly than ever 
before, but used the occasion to declare open opposition to 
Monroe's administration. He had entered upon a new 
stage of his public career. 

He had returned from Europe with stimulated ambition 
to become President. He was the most conspicuous figure 
in Congress, and the foremost of the new generation of 
public men. 1 He was the acknowledged representative of 
the West, while by nativity and as a slave-holder he stood 
essentially with the South. Moreover, his general policy 
was certain to grow in favor in the East. Such were the 
elements of his political influence, combined with the most 
popular genius the country has ever known. lie had good 
grounds for his aspirations. 

To Monroe's elevation there had been no substantial op- 
position. It had been in course of long and assiduous prep- 
aration. Political tradition and skilful management had 
united in his support. But he was the last of the Yirginian 
succession. It was plain that his term of office would wit- 



1 "An able writer in the Boston Patriot has commenced a series of 
essays addressed to Henry Clay respecting the peace establishment of the 
army." — Mies' 's Register, vol. ix. p. 214, November 25, 1815. A similar 
course was taken by Channiug in 1837 to promulgate his views concerning 
the annexation of Texas. 



Ch. II.] CLAY'S POLITICAL POSITION 71 

ness a new disposition of political forces. Clay had deter- 
mined to succeed him ; and to gain the advantage of stand- 
ing next in line of promotion, according to precedent, he 
desired to be Secretary of State. 

Shortly after Clay's return from Europe, Madison offered 
him the mission to Russia, 1 and within a year afterward in- 
vited him to the Cabinet as Secretary of War. Madison held 
him in high esteem. In 1813 he would have offered him the 
command of the army had not his presence in Congress been 
regarded as indispensable. 2 Yet it is probable that politics 
more than esteem induced Madison to propose the Russian 
mission and the Department of War. Clay's acceptance of 
either, even had he been willing to exchange his notable po- 
sition in Congress for so slight an official distinction, would 
have been a tacit consent to the deferment of his hopes; 
for the offers, coming so late in Madison's term, must have 
been approved by Monroe, by whom it was doubtless under- 
stood that if Clay accepted an appointment it was to be 
continued. Both were declined ; but they were significant 
that he would not be given the first place in Monroe's cab- 
inet. It was apparent soon after Monroe's election that 



1 " Seventeen years later, in 1832, Buchanan, Minister to Russia, wrote : 
' To be an American Minister is but a slender passport to the kind atten- 
tion of the Russian nobility. They know but little of our country, and 
probably desire to know still less, as they are afraid of the contamination 
of liberty.' " — Curtis's Buchanan, vol. i. p. 156. 

2 "Henry Clay had equal moral courage with Jackson, but he lacked 
military glory ; and with the ignorant majority military glory is apprecia- 
ble, whilst moral courage and intellectual statesmanship are incomprehensi- 
ble. In such a conflict, Jackson, of course, triumphed. Had Mr. Clay ac- 
cepted the generalship-in-chief in the war of 1812, as proposed by his 
friends — the President, Madison, being out — there is no doubt but he would 
have made a great and successful general ; for of all men who ever came 
into political rivalry in our country, Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson 
were most alike in character. " — Life of Cassias M. Clay, vol. i. p. 49. 



72 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1817 

Clay's wishes were to be disregarded — that not he but John 
Quincy Adams was to be the administration candidate for 
the Presidential succession. Adams was made Secretary of 
State. Clay was again pressed to take the "War Department 
or the mission to England — practically anything he wanted 
save the coveted post. But nothing else would suffice. 

He was disappointed and angered. Justly or not, in view 
of Adams's experience and the Northern support he brought 
to Monroe, Clay held his own claims to be higher. 1 And 
to be pushed aside by such a man as Monroe added to his 
spleen. The President was a sagacious, cautious, methodi- 
cal, and mediocre man, advanced over abler men by political 
machinery. Both he and Adams had been chiefly occupied 
abroad in diplomacy, while Clay's service had been for the 
most part in the gaze of the nation. He assumed that the 
prominence he had achieved justified his aspirations. But 
his principal source of influence — his diffused popularity, 
arising from admiration for the man, his manner, his ora- 
tory, and his showy policy — was not alone sufficient to 
raise him to the Presidency. Popular admiration of the 
talents of a statesman has seldom been successful in the 
strife for that position against the concrete interests and 
material means that aid shrewd but otherwise ordinary 
men. Immeasurably superior to the horde of brawling, 
scrambling mediocres that ever throng the ways to prefer- 
ment, he was impatient of resistance, and often asserted his 
opinions in a dictatorial and overbearing way. "When his 



1 MacMaster says (vol. iv. p. 376) that Clay prevented the use of the 
chamber of the House for the inauguration, which was therefore held out- 
side ; and that he did not attend the ceremonies. Iu Clay's Correspondence, 
however (p. 53), is a note from Monroe, dated March 4, 1817, thanking Clay 
for his offer to put the chamber in order for the proceedings. 



Ch. II.] CLAY AND THE MONROE ADMINISTRATION 73 

feelings and prejudices were aroused, they were apt to be 
too strong and impetuous for calculating prudence and 
sound judgment. After Monroe's administration was or- 
ganized these traits came into full play by the independent 
and hostile attitude that Clay assumed. Henceforth, recog- 
nizing no leadership above his own, he was often to commit 
the error of excess. In making war on Monroe, however 
good the grounds, he allowed his fervor and his personal 
grievance to be obtruded too far for circumspect and suc- 
cessful opposition. 

His persistence in behalf of internal improvements after 
Monroe's announcement of his Constitutional objections 
would have excited no surprise had he gone no further than 
to urge the legal and economic arguments that he held to 
be valid. To that extent he would only have been con- 
sistent with what he had previously advocated. But he ex- 
ceeded the necessities of debate by not only harshly com- 
bating the President's reasoning, but also denouncing what 
he chose to regard as gross presumption in vetoing legisla- 
tion before it had been introduced in Congress. This he 
did in terms so ill-restrained as to evince personal resent- 
ment at his failure to obtain the Secretaryship of State in 
the new cabinet. Such at least was the construction put 
upon it — to his serious disadvantage. It was received as the 
public declaration of revolt against the administration. It 
was not, however, the first intimation of his designs ; for he 
had at once made his sentiments known through various 
channels, and had been exerting himself to marshal all his 
available forces. 1 Nor was his stand for internal improve- 



1 Adams's Deary, December 25, 1817; July 28, 1818; February 2, 3, 1819. 
Niles's Register, August 29, 1819. 



74 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1818 

merits, as prominent as that policy was in bis plan of opera- 
tions, more than a preliminary stroke. The principal onset 
followed immediately. March 24, 1818, but eleven days 
afterward, be " came out with his great opposition speech," 
as Adams expressed it, on the emancipation of South 
America. 

The decrepitude of Spain, caused by the subversion of her 
power by Napoleon, was extreme, and her colonies had taken 
advantage of it to attain independence. Mexico and the 
whole of South America — except Brazil, which was under 
the dominion of Portugal — were in more or less active re- 
bellion. In those countries where the revolution had been 
successful, republican institutions were organized. Many of 
the revolutionary movements were stained by cruelty and 
excess, and among the new states jealousy and discord pre- 
vailed. Yet their former condition could justly be urged in 
palliation of this state of things. Any struggle for liberty, 
however violent and irregular, on the part of those peoples, 
who had been long subjected to the most barbarizing des- 
potism that ever existed, was deserving of sympathy. Clay 
was enthusiastically of that belief. He had proclaimed it 
early. In January, 1816, he expressed a desire that the 
government of the United States should interpose in aid 
of the South American cause. He subsequently opposed a 
bill to prevent the equipment in our ports of cruisers to be 
sold to the insurgents. The bill became a law as a measure 
of neutrality; but after Monroe's administration began, Clay 
urged the repeal of the law and the assumption of such an 
attitude as would benefit the struggling colonies instead of 
Spain, which he deeply detested. The debate on this ques- 
tion prepared the way for his proposal to recognize the 
patriot flag. To supply the want of exact information as 



Ch. II.] THE SOUTH AMERICAN REPUBLICS 75 

to the condition of the insurgent countries, Madison had 
sent thither three commissioners on a tour of investiga- 
tion. They had not yet made their report, but it was 
proposed to provide for their compensation. To this Clay 
objected, contending that their appointment was uncon- 
stitutional, having been made without the advice and con- 
sent of the Senate. He then moved an appropriation for 
one year's salary and outfit for a minister to the United 
Provinces of the Kio de la Plata whenever the President 
should deem it expedient to send one. 

His speech on this motion was in his best style. The 
subject, as he viewed it, was exalted, yet it was not one 
upon which to form a party division. The proposition in- 
volved no existing interests ; it simply represented a senti- 
ment, though a large and lofty sentiment. But the subject 
was fascinating, and Clay was determined to discredit the 
administration. Perhaps no speech he ever delivered re- 
flects more completely his strongest and his weakest traits. 

He deplored his difference with many friends on the ques- 
tion, but found some consolation in that, if he erred, it was 
"on the side of the liberty and happiness of a large portion 
of the human family." He was averse to war with Spain, 
yet he criticised with harshness and asperity the manner in 
which the long-continued negotiations with Spain had been 
conducted, and defined a course that would result in war 
unless the many injuries done us were redressed. He elo- 
quently described the immense region throughout which 
"the spirit of revolt against the dominion of Spain had 
manifested itself," its diverse and magnificent resources, the 
character and promise of its inhabitants, the blighting 
tyranny they had suffered, and the scenes of atrocity their 
efforts for freedom had provoked. He urged the commer- 



76 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1818 

cial interest of the United States in the independence of the 
revolted provinces, and the likelihood of their adopting in- 
stitutions modelled after ours. He showed that the states 
of the Eio de la Plata were already free and independent, 
and that within their territory there was not a Spanish bay- 
onet to contest the authority of their government. This de 
facto government, he insisted, was entitled to recognition, 
according to the practice of Washington, Jefferson, and 
Madison, the established principles of international law and 
of a true neutrality. Such a recognition, he maintained, would 
not be to Spain a just cause of war ; but he contended that if 
she should make war on that pretext her weakness would com- 
plete her ruin in the Americas — that it would " ensure beyond 
all doubt the cause of American independence" and " would 
be attended with the immediate and certain loss of Florida." 
Notwithstanding the sentiment evoked and the merit of 
the speech, which was strikingly superior to the speeches 
in the debate that followed, the measure he advocated was 
too premature not to encounter certain defeat. The position 
of the administration was well understood. While it was 
unwilling to appear at all precipitate, it was not opposed to 
recognizing any of the new governments when that could 
be done with assurance of their independence and the ap- 
proval of public sentiment. But there was no call for haste, 
especially as it was proposed to send a minister to a govern- 
ment which had not as yet sought recognition by sending 
an accredited minister here. 1 Besides, there was the con- 
sideration, which Clay had boldly combated, that it was im- 
politic needlessly to offend the Spanish government pend- 
ing the negotiations for the acquisition of Florida. The 



1 Lyman's Diplomacy of the United States, vol. ii. p. 424. 



Ch. II.] CLAY'S DEFEAT IN CONGRESS 77 

main effect, therefore, of his censure of the administration 
was, as in the debate on internal improvements, to foment 
bitterness of feeling. The execution of his aggressive plan 
might have quickly secured the results he looked for with 
a great gain of national prestige; but the wisdom of seek- 
ing them by diplomacy was shown by the event, and was 
more in accord with the character of our institutions. 

The motion was defeated by a vote of 45 to 115. Though 
he made two further speeches during the debate, 1 and ex- 
hausted every resource, he could hardly have expected a 
different result, and probably he did not. In this view 
some allowance should be made for the extent to which 
he pressed his advocacy. The proposition itself was as 
limited as it could well be ; yet the chief argument used 
against it was that the Constitutional power to manage our 
foreign relations is vested in the President, and therefore 
that it was improper for Congress to interfere. 2 If adopted 
it would have been merely an expression by Congress of its 



1 At a banquet which followed the unveiling of a monument to Clay at 
Richmond, in 18G0, John Tyler had the magnanimity to extol Clay's 
ability as Speaker and debater. " His gesture," said he, among other 
things, "was impressive, and he had the faculty of throwing the power 
of his voice into a single sentence after such a manner as to produce some- 
times an electric effect. The late Philip P. Barbour often quoted to me an 
illustration of this power of voice and expression used by Mr. Clay in dis- 
cussing the recognition of the Spanish - American colonies. The speaker 
had drawn a desponding picture of the condition of Mexico in her struggle 
for independence. Her hopes were reported to be blasted ; Mina, her 
great leader, either killed or captured. At that moment a page put in his 
hand a morning paper. , His eye fell on a paragraph, when his whole man- 
ner changed, and holding the paper up, he exclaimed, 'Mina still lives !' 
The effect was wonderful. Mr. Barbour said, 'I sprang to my feet, and 
some moments elapsed before I recovered from my trance.'" 

8 An excellent memoir on this subject was submitted to the Senate in 
January, 1897, in connection with a pending proposition to recognize the 
independence of Cuba. The Constitutional phase of the debates in 1818, 



78 TUE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1818 

desire that the specified government be recognized, and a 
provision of the means for such recognition, leaving the 
subject otherwise to the discretion of the President. If that 
government were independent the cause of republicanism 
demanded its recognition as soon as prudence and propriety 
would permit. Whatever criticism, therefore, Clay's course 
warranted, it had the merit of bringing an important and 
worthy subject into national prominence, and of charging 
the administration with a responsibilitj' that it could not 
ignore. A more ordinary and moderate effort would not 
have produced that result. 

Despite the large majority of the administration forces 
in Congress, Clay's opposition caused Monroe much anxiety 
and Adams much wrath. It was evident that hostilities had 
only begun. The subject of South American independence 
was one to which he could recur as often as he chose, with 
the probability of improving grounds and increasing popu- 
lar support. 1 Moreover, another opportunity of attack had 
already arisen. Even while the South American debate 
was in progress the events that occasioned the next parlia- 
mentary battle were taking place. General Jackson was in 
the midst of his operations in the Seminole War. 

We have now reached the origin of the fateful feud be- 
tween Jackson and Clay described at the opening of this 
volume. It remains to sketch the ensuing events to the 
election of 1828, and to complete the portrait of Clay as 
he was when he re-entered the Senate to take up the gage 
of battle with Jackson. 



1821, and 1822 is there fully presented. See Congressional Record, Fifty- 
fourth Congress, Second Session, p. 684. 

1 The Supreme Congress of Mexico gave Clay a vote of thanks for his 
efforts in the cause, and extracts from his speeches were read at the head 
of the South American armies. 



CHAPTER III 

Clay's Political Position — The Missouri Compromise, the Statesmanship of 
It, and Clay's Agency in Effecting It.— He Renews his Efforts for the 
Recognition of the South American Republics, and Finally Succeeds — 
He Temporarily Retires, but Returns to the House at the Opening of the 
Eighteenth Congress — He Defeats a Bill to Pension Commodore Perry's 
Mother, and Advocates Internal Improvements and Webster's Resolu- 
tion Concerning the Recognition of Greece — The Monroe Doctrine — 
The Tariff of 1824 and Clay's Relation to Protection — The Political 
Situation in 1824 — William H. Crawford — John Quincy Adams is 
Elected President by the House Through Clay's Influence, and Clay 
becomes Secretary of State — Clay's Administration of the State Depart- 
ment — The Panama Mission — John Randolph — His Duel with Clay — 
Adams and his Administration — Jackson is Elected over Adams in 
1828 — Clay's Home, Family, Personal Appearance, Temperament, and 
Mind. 

Clay's repeated defeats told heavily. Without his pecul- 
iar and remarkable powers he would have been undone. 
His home constituency, however, was always loyal to him. 
Only once was he threatened from that quarter. In 1816 he 
voted for a bill increasing the compensation of members of 
Congress from six dollars per day while in session to fifteen 
hundred per year, and twice that sum to the Speaker. It 
met with the stormy but unreasonable opposition of the 
country. By voting for it many members lost their seats. 
Clay's return was contested on that ground. After a short 
and spirited canvass of his district — the only one he ever 
made — he was successful, 1 though he pledged himself to 



1 See Mks's Register, vol. xliii. p. 19 ; Headlands in the Life of Henry 
Clay, No. 1, p. 3. 



80 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1820 

advocate the repeal of the law and the substitution of a. per 
diem compensation. The other candidate had been opposed 
to the war, and in joint debate with Clay he fared badly. 
But though secure of his seat in the House, his position 
there was not so assured. There is always danger of a 
thwarted statesman degenerating into a political guerilla. 
Clay's course was still imputed to factious vindictiveness. 
His character suffered. It was seriously considered by the 
adherents of the administration whether he should not be 
retired from the Speakership ; but Monroe prudently pre- 
vented this action, as magnifying Clay's importance, and 
also because it would, if successful, deprive the West of 
official representation, there being no Western man in the 
cabinet and none in the House of sufficient strength and 
eminence to contend with Clay for the chair. He was 
keenly sensible of his decline, and for a time was much 
depressed by it, even neglecting his duties as presiding offi- 
cer. 1 Rumor had it that he sought diversion in the excite- 
ment of the card-table, a prevalent passion among Southern 
gentlemen of that period. 3 However this may be, his weak- 
ness was of short duration. He soon recovered himself, 
and through the part he took in the controversy over the 
admission of Missouri, he won the title of the " Great 
Pacificator." 

The details of that controversy, which extended over 
three sessions of Congress, need not be recounted here. 
The expanding cotton culture had largely increased the 
number and value of slaves, and this was accompanied by a 



1 Xiles's Register, vol. xviii. p. 4. 

2 In regard to the charge that Clay gambled, see Scburz's Clay, vol. i. 
p. 160 ; Mallory's Clay, vol. i. p. 192 ; Headlands in the Life of Henry 
Clay, No. 1, p. 2. 



Ch. III.] THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE 81 

more general and radical belief in the propriety of their 
bondage. At the North slavery had gradually become ex- 
tinct, yet the growth of Northern wealth and population 
was deranging the political balance with the South. To 
increase the slave territory had, therefore, become to the 
South an active political principle, naturally obnoxious to 
Northern sentiment. The effort of Missouri for admission 
into the Union as a slave State brought to light this vital 
difference which had insensibly developed between the two 
sections of the country. 

After an excited struggle during two sessions of Con- 
gress, Maine was admitted into the Union, Missouri was 
authorized to form a State constitution, and slavery was 
prohibited in all the territory north of thirty-six degrees 
and thirty minutes, except Missouri. The difficulty was 
supposed to be settled. 

The second session of the Sixteenth Congress convened 
November 13, 1820. Clay was not in attendance, owing to 
the pressure of his private affairs. 1 As it was understood 
at the close of the preceding session that he would do, he 
resigned the Speakership. A stubborn contest arose over 
his successor. Twenty-two ballots, with many variations, 
were required to reach a decision, Taylor, of New York, 
being elected over Lowndes, of South Carolina. 2 As this 



1 Adams's Diary, vol. v. p. 58. 

•2 " William Lowndes, after Clay, exercised more influence in the House 
than any other man. . . . He had been elaborately educated, and improved 
by foreign travel, extensive reading, and research. As a belles-lettres 
scholar he was even superior to Mr. Randolph. Very retiring and modest 
in his demeanor, he rarely obtruded himself upon the House. "When he 
did, it seemed only to remind the House of something which had been for- 
gotten by his predecessors in debate. Sometimes he would make a set 
speech. When he did, it was always remarkable for profound reasoning 
and profound thought. . . . His impression upon the nation had made 
G 



82 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1820 

indicates, the chief cause of the contest was the renewal of 
the antislavery agitation. The Missouri question had not 
been laid. There was deep dissatisfaction in diverse quar- 
ters, and for opposite reasons, over the conditions of the 
Compromise. Many at the North objected to the permission 
of slavery in Missouri, while many at the South objected to 
the restriction of it anywhere. It needed only a slight rea- 
son to unsettle the arrangement, and this was furnished by 
the constitution upon which Missouri sought formal ad- 
mission into the Union. It contained a provision directing 
the legislature to enact a law " to prevent free negroes and 
mulattoes from coming to, and settling in, said State on 
any pretext whatever." This was charged to be a violation 
of the federal Constitution, which declares that " the citi- 
zens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and 
immunities of citizens in the several States." The same 
objection had been urged against the Compromise. 

The perturbation that prevailed in Congress was fully 
shared by the country. The debates, increasing in vehe- 
mence and heat, and covering all phases — moral, economic, 
and Constitutional — of the slavery question, had been every- 
where read and discussed with fevered interest. Public 
meetings held throughout the land fulminated resolutions ; 
legislatures, municipalities, and the people, presented memo- 
rials and petitions to Congress praying on one or the other 
side. The feeling was general that the Union was imperilled. 
Extremists of the South boldly threatened secession, to be 
answered with equally violent defiance by extremists of the 
North. 

him the favored candidate of every section for the next President ; and it 
is not, perhaps, saying too much that, had his life been spared, he, and 
not John Quincy Adams, would have been President in 1824." — Sparks's 
Memories of Fifty Years, p. 838. 



Ch. III.] THE FIGHT OVER THE COMPROMISE 83 

The question was wrangled over in various forms, but 
with no other result than to leave the real difficulty, from 
the temper aroused, more arduous than before. January 
11, 1821, when the excitement was at its height, Clay 
appeared in the House. His coming had been anxiously 
awaited, in the belief that he could work out some solution 
of the problem. 1 The belief was not misplaced. "While 
the public excitement constantly increased, the temper of 
Congress now underwent a gradual change. This was 
mainly due to Clay's tireless and undiscouraged efforts, 
which were even more effective in private than in public. 
From the first he had been steadily gaining converts to a 
compromise, as well as allaying the violence of opposi- 
tion that could not be wholly converted. 3 He tried various 
means to settle the question, but they were unavailing ex- 
cept to prepare the way for his final resort. At length he 
made a motion for a joint committee of both Houses. Feb- 
ruary 23 the committee was elected. It was virtually his 
selection, and he was chairman of it. This was on Friday. 
On the following Monday he presented the report of the 
committee, which recommended the admission of Missouri 
practically on the terms of the former compromise, and on 
the further condition that no law should be passed abridg- 



1 Sparks's Memories of Fifty Years, p. 230 ; Goodrich's Recollections, 
vol. ii. p. 395. 

2 An instance of his persistent energy on the floor was related by Crit- 
tenden. Clay had made a motion to allow some members to vote who 
were absent when their names were called. The Speaker ruled that the 
motion was out of order. Clay then moved to suspend the rules forbid- 
ding it. This motiou was likewise ruled out. " Then," said Clay, exert- 
ing his voice beyond its highest wont, " I move to suspend all the rules of 
the House ! Away with them ! Is it to be endured that we shall be tram- 
melled in our action by mere forms and technicalities at a moment like 
this, when the peace, and perhaps the existence, of this Union is at stake '?" 
— Coleman's Crittenden, vol. ii. p. 53. 



84 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1821 

ing the right of any citizens to settle in the State. On the 
same day, with little debate, the resolution reported was 
adopted by the House, and on the next day by the Senate. 1 
The condition was in due time complied with, and Missouri 
became a State. 

The settlement of this portentous controversy brought 
profound relief. The struggle had reached a pass that 
would have impelled the secession of the slave States had 
Missouri been denied admission ; and secession would not, 
could not, have been prevented. When the excitement was 
highest, Clay repeatedly expressed his doubt as to the con- 
tinuance of the Union. The hypercritical complain because 
the antislavery principle yielded to compromise, and im- 
pugn the policy that effected it. Compromise, it is said, 
was but an expedient to put off the inevitable crisis ; instead 
of multiplying both terms of the equation, the problem 
should have been solved while yet the forces were small. 
This answer should be sufficient — compromise preserved 
the Union. Thus far politics more than the altruistic sen- 
timent of liberty was the motive of the antislavery move- 
ment ; and it was politics that eventually constrained the 
compromise. Love for the Union was not a general and in- 



1 In a political speech in 1844, Clay said : " I moved for the appointment 
of a committee of one from each State, and that they should be elected by 
ballot — a means of designating a committee then unknown in the House. 
On that committee I placed the names of several that had voted against 
the reception of Missouri into the Union, and had the influence to have 
them elected ; eighteen on the first ballot, and the remaining six were, 
upon my suggestion, made up of those having the highest number of 
votes. The committee met and readily agreed to report favorably to the 
reception of the new State into the Union. But this did not satisfy me. I 
urged on A, B, and C the question, ' Will you vote for it in the House ?' 
and had the happiness to wring from them the positive promise I desired. 
This gave the turn to the scale in the House, aud I now knew that the 
question was settled." 



Ch. III.] THE COMPROMISE CARRIED 85 

veterate instinct in any section of the country. The dura- 
tion of the Union and the consequences of its dissolution 
were freely and coolly discussed by public men. Had the 
South seceded, slavery would have received a still greater 
impetus and protection, not to speak of the manifold evils 
that must have followed in the wake of separation, which 
would have increased and strengthened the territorial de- 
mands of slavery. The future of our political institutions 
was at stake ; and they were wise who trusted that the 
right would profit most by time, and in the end prevail. 

It may be that Clay's persistent efforts to effect the com- 
promise were not governed by the deliberate calculation of 
remote consequences. At such a time those considerations 
are secondary, if entertained at all. Clay was not a phi- 
losopher, but a man of action. His paramount impulse 
throughout his career was to maintain and glorify the Un- 
ion. He was intensely patriotic, and ambitious to become 
President of the Union intact. He was a Southerner and a 
slave-holder, and as such was imbued to a lanre decree with 
Southern sentiments ; yet his instinctive feeling was adverse 
to slavery. But it was certain that slavery could not be 
eradicated in his day. As a practical man he met each con- 
dition as it arose, with an incidental but not unworthy view 
to his own elevation. To solve the present and urgent 
problem, in a way to preserve and expand our nationality 
on the existing basis, was therefore the leading principle of 
his statesmanship ; and when instant action is imperative, 
only that type of statesmanship is efficient. Clay Avas the 
sole possessor Of the genius and influence to quell the storm 
that would otherwise have destroyed the Union. He felt 
his responsibility and fully met it. So far as one man can 
achieve so great a result, Clay saved the Union at that crisis. 



86 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1821 

In the midst of the Missouri struggle, Clay recurred to 
his favorite subject — the recognition of the South American 
republics. At the preceding session he assailed the admin- 
istration for negotiating a treaty with Spain for the pur- 
chase of Florida with the Sabine instead of the Rio del 
Norte as our southwestern boundary, which had the effect 
of relinquishing our claim to Texas as a part of the Loui- 
siana purchase. 1 But the treaty was not ratified by Spain 
within the stipulated time, and Clay attempted to prevent a 
renewal ; he introduced resolutions declaring the treaty in- 
valid inasmuch as it amounted to a cession of Texas to Spain, 
thus requiring the joint action of both Houses of Congress ; 
and that the consideration from Spain for the territory west 
of the Sabine was inadequate. 2 The resolutions were de- 
feated ; but in the course of his speech in support of them 
he again brought into full view his South American policy, 
and not long afterward he made a direct effort in its be- 
half by moving a resolution declaring that it was expedient 
to provide by law for sending ministers to the South Ameri- 
can governments then maintaining their independence. This 
resolution was adopted, 3 but no further action was taken 

1 Adams's Diary, vol. v. p. 25; Monroe to Jackson, May 22, 1820. 

2 " We want Florida," said he, " or rather we shall want it; or, to speak 
more correctly, we want nobody else to have it. We do not desire it for 
immediate use. It fills a space in our imagination, and we wish to com- 
plete the arrondissement of our territory. It must certainly come to us. 
The ripened fruit will not more surely fall. Florida is enclosed between 
Alabama and Georgia, and cannot escape. Texas may. Whether we get 
Florida now or some five or ten years hence, it is of no consequence. 1 
would not give Texas for Florida in naked exchange. We are bound by 
the treaty to give not merely Texas, but five millions of dollars also, and 
the excess beyond that sum of all claims upon Spain, which have been 
variously estimated at from fifteen to twenty millions of dollars." 

3 "It is, no doubt, an indication of Clay's influence in the House, and 
of his increasing popularity in the nation, as the great antagonist of the 
administration."— Adams's Diary, May 14, 1820. 



Ch. III.] CLAY RETIRES FROM CONGRESS 87 

during the session. In February, 1821, he moved an appro- 
priation for the purpose. This narrowly failing, he pro- 
posed a resolution declaring the interest of the people and 
the House in the South American cause, and the readiness 
of the House to co-operate with the President in recog- 
nizing the independent nationalities. It was adopted by 
a large majority, and was presented with somewhat of 
triumph to the President by a committee of the House 
headed by Clay. 1 But Monroe still halted, to avoid, it may 
be supposed, the appearance of coercion ; and it was not 
until March, 1822, that he formally recommended the rec- 
ognition of the independent governments. Congress then 
took prompt action, and ministers were subsequently sent 
to several of the new states. 2 

At the close of the session Clay retired from Congress, 
and with much eclat. 2 His embarrassed financial circum- 
stances, caused by the failure of a friend whose paper he 
had endorsed to a large amount, rendered it necessary for 
him to resume his practice, which his great prestige now 
made weighty and lucrative. He was retained by the Bank 
of the United States in much important litigation. He was 
also retained at this time by the legislature of Kentucky 
to assist in arranging with the legislature of Virginia a 
mode of settling disputed land -titles arising out of the 
former relations between the two States. This engage- 
ment recalled him to the scenes of his youth ; and the dra- 
matic use he made of it attracted considerable attention. 4 
During this period he actively opposed the agitation against 
the State court, caused by its holding unconstitutional cer- 



1 Colton's Clay, vol. i. p. 242. 

2 Lj r man's Diplomacy of the United States, vol. ii. p. 447. 

3 Adams's Diary, March 9, 14, 1821. * Sargent's Clay, p. 98. 



88 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1823 

tain acts that had been passed to afford "relief" to dis- 
tressed debtors, and to create a " new court " designed to 
uphold the popular movement. The people were suffering 
the consequences of paper inflation, which they did not 
comprehend. For several years this agitation was pro- 
moted by demagogues ; but it finally subsided, as all such 
political manias do, under the sustained efforts and influ- 
ence of the conservative elements, which formed Clay's 
chief political support. For a time his great popularity was 
seriously menaced ; but his district did not waver in its 
loyalty to him. In the fall of 1S23 he was re-elected to the 
House, and there to the Speakership. 1 

The business of the session had much variety and inter- 
est, 2 and in it Clay evinced his usual spirit and initiative, 
notwithstanding he was a candidate for the Presidency, 
having already been nominated by the legislatures of Ken- 
tucky, Ohio, Missouri, and Louisiana. At the outset his 
habitual and critical watchfulness of legislation, to which 
the Journal of the House amply testifies, was shown in 
an instance somewhat perilous to him as a Presidential as- 
pirant. By a speech said to have had overpowering effect, 
he defeated a bill to pension the indigent mother of Commo- 



1 This jeic d'esprit appeared in the National Intelligencer : 

"As near the Potomac's broad stream, t'other day, 

Fair Liberty strolled in solicitous mood, 
Deep pondering the future — unheeding her way — 

She met goddess Nature beside a green wood. 
'Good mother,' she cried, 'deign help me at need! 

I must make for my guardians a Speaker to-day: 
The first in the world I would give them.' — ' Indeed ! 

When I made the first Speaker, I made him of Clay.' " 

2 The growing importance of the House and the increasing amount of 
business it transacted are shown by the fact that the number of standing 
committees had now reached twenty-five. 



Ch. III.] CLAY OPPOSES THE PERRY PENSION 89 

dore Perry, as proposing an expensive and dangerous prec- 
edent, which, besides exalting the military above the civil 
service, was against the policy and principle of the pension 
system, inasmuch as Perry neither fell nor was wounded in 
battle. It is apparent, however, from some of his remarks 
on military glory, that the spectre of General Jackson's 
candidacy was before his eyes. " If vou wish," said he, 
" to make your country illustrious you must diffuse your 
glory. It is not your heroes — God knows we have had 
enough of them within the last twenty years, every man 
is now a hero — it is not your heroes, but the body of the 
people, the men who fight your battles, to whom you are in- 
debted for your safety and your eminence as a nation." ' 

The subject of internal improvements was again re- 
opened. In 1822, while Clay was out of Congress, Monroe 
had vetoed an appropriation for the Cumberland road. It 
was the only considerable work the government had ever 
undertaken ; and it was the result almost entirely of Clay's 
exertions, which, indeed, were recognized by a monument 
on the road, inscribed to him. But it had at length en- 
countered opposition in Pennsylvania, where a turnpike from 
Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, with which it competed, had 
been constructed by private capital. 2 In vetoing the appro- 
priation, Monroe had communicated a long exposition of 
his Constitutional opinions; and though the discussion in 
which Clay participated was upon a bill to provide for the 
preliminary plans of a general system — which, being harm- 



1 "Mr. Hamilton said that in rising to reply to the gentleman from 
Kentucky, he could not but feel a foreboding how hopeless the attempt 
must be to break the spell of that eloquence for which, if he might so 
speak, the House had a sort of habitual deference and admiration." 

8 Curtis's Buchanan, vol. i. p. 32; Madison's Works, vol. iii. p. 54. 



90 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1824 

less, became a law — be made it the occasion to renew his 
efforts in support of the policy and in hostility to Monroe. 

Shortly after this he warmly advocated Webster's resolu- 
tion, modelled after his own previous propositions touching 
the South American States, to provide for the recognition of 
Greece, then in the midst of her revolution, which naturally 
challenged very general and enthusiastic interest. He also 
introduced a joint resolution asserting the principle he had 
before repeatedly declared, and which was announced in the 
President's message at the opening of the session, now fa- 
miliar as the " Monroe Doctrine." This portion of the mes- 
sage and Clay's resolution were both provoked by the designs 
imputed to the so-called " Holy Alliance " to aid Spain to 
reconquer the revolted provinces. Neither his nor Webster's 
resolution, however, was acted upon. The friends of Adams, 
Jackson, and Calhoun were not disposed to allow Clay to 
gain any further political advantage from championing the 
doctrine Monroe had declared, but of which Clay was in a 
large degree the author. 1 

The engrossing topic of the session was the tariff. The 
act of 1816 had not proven satisfactory to the manufacturers. 
With the exception of an increase of the duties on iron in 
1818 and a reduction of those on wines in 1819, the schedule 
remained unchanged. An effort was made in 1820 for a 
general increase, but it was defeated in the Senate. Since 
1819, when a severe financial crisis occurred as the natural 
consequence of the conditions produced by the war, the 
country had been suffering a period of extreme and general 
depression. There had been a great decrease in the export 
trade, and hence a ruinous decline in prices, accompanied by 



Von Hoist's Constitutional History of tlie United States, vol . i. p. 412. 



Ch. III.] CLAY COMBATS FREE-TRADE 91 

all the symptoms that flow from a vicious currency. All 
this had created a strong protection movement, notwith- 
standing the natural process of recuperation had already 
well set in, and if left to itself would have brought a slow 
but steady and ultimately complete restoration of financial 
and industrial health. The manufacturing interests took 
advantage of the situation on much the same plea that pre- 
vailed at the close of the war. 

Early in the session a bill more thoroughly and syste- . 
matically protective than any ever before proposed was re- 
ported to the House. In the middle of February discussion 
of it began, first over details, then developing into a vigorous 
and elaborate debate on the policy and principle of protec- 
tion. It was really the first of the many great debates on 
the subject. Clay strongly favored the bill of 1820, and 
made an elaborate speech which may be taken as the general 
introduction to the series of disquisitions pronounced by him 
in behalf of what he denominated with singular inaptness, 
but efficient popular effect, the "American system." He 
took the lead in support of the bill of 1824. Prompted by a 
truly powerful speech in favor of free-trade by Philip P. 
Barbour, one of the ablest members of Congress during that 
period, 1 Clay delivered the most ambitious and exhaustive 



1 "James Barbour was a member of the Senate ; Philip P. Barbour of 
the House. They were brothers, and both from Virginia. They were 
both men of great abilities, but their style and manner were very different. 
James was a verbose and ornate declaimer; Philip was a close, cogent 
reasouer, without any attempt at elegance or display. He labored to con- 
vince the mind ; James to control and direct the feelings. A wag wrote 
upon the wall of the House : 

" ' Two Barbours to shave our Congress long did try. 
One shaves with froth ; the other shaves dry.' " 

— Sparks's Memories of Fifty Years, p. 238. See also Bentou's Tliirty Years' 
View, vol. ii. p. 202. 



92 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1824 

speech he had thus far made in his Congressional career. 
This speech best reflects the protection arguments then cur- 
rent, and it is also marked by some of his most powerful 
rhetorical effects. After defining the division of sentiment 
on the tariff question, he described a state of the most stifling 
and paralyzing distress that he asserted to prevail through- 
out the country. Previous to the delivery of this speech the 
debate had been in progress over a month, yet nothing in 
the discussion suggested the existence of any such direful 
condition as that which Clay depicted. As Webster said, 
the country could not be " represented in gloom, melancholy, 
and distress, but by the effort of extraordinary powers of 
tragedy." ' 

The speech was far superior to any other on his side 
of the question delivered during the debate ; but it cannot 
be classed as a valuable contribution to economic science. 
Even extreme protectionists have abandoned most of the 
arguments he employed. Despite the statesmanlike cast of 
his mind, he was not a profound reasoner on purely finan- 
cial and economical subjects. In this respect he was far 
inferior to Webster. 2 In 1824 protection was not deep- 



1 "The paragraphs devoted to distress in this speech are more likely 
than any others Clay ever uttered to give those who shall deeply ponder 
them a generation or two hence any adequate conception of the orator's 
power. In fact, it is well remembered still how hundreds, not of mem- 
bers merely, but of those who on that occasion crowded the lobby, were 
agonized at their own and their country's distress, themselves having for- 
gotten it till then." — Democratic Review, March, 1843, vol. xii. p. 302. 

2 The strongest speech in reply to Clay was made by Webster — indeed, 
it was one of the ablest he ever pronounced, although he subsequently 
abandoned the position he then took. In 1846 he made a speech on the 
tariff question at a dinner in Philadelphia. The next morning one of the 
Democratic newspapers reprinted his great speech of 1824, and main' thou- 
sand copies " were sold before the joke was discovered. The Democrats 
were delighted — the Whigs furious, especially Mr. Greeley, of the Tribune, 



Ch. III.] THE OPPOSITION TO PROTECTION 93 

\y rooted in the policy of the country. It had not as 
yet affected the sensitive and complex tissue of society. 
Against it there was a strong drift of instinctive disfavor, 
which needed only popular guidance to rule the national 
policy. The Wealth of Nations had been written half a 
century. 1 Clay admitted familiarity with its commercial 
doctrines, and stated them with exquisite precision. He 
had stretched his opinions far beyond their original scope. 
A few years more and the disorder and depression fol- 
lowing in the train of war and bad finance would have 
disappeared, and national health would have been restored 
by natural processes, with increased vigor and vitalit}^. A 
Presidential election was close at hand. The candidates 
were numerous, and their following was largely personal. 2 



who had come over to hear Mr. Webster, and who bought several copies 
of the old speech, thinking it the new one. But Mr. Webster enjoyed it 
hugely ; and when his friend Ashmun handed him my extra, he laughed 
heartily, and said, ' I think Forney has printed a much better speech than 
the one I made last night.' " — Forney's Anecdotes of Public Men, p. 10. 

1 In a speech during this debate, Randolph said: "In the course of 
this discussion I have heard, I will not say with surprise, because nil ad- 
mirari is my motto — no doctrine that can be broached on this floor can 
ever hereafter excite surprise in my mind — I have heard the names of Say, 
Gauilh, Adam Smith, and Ricardo pronounced not only in terms, but in 
tones, of sneering coutempt, as visionary theorists, destitute of practical 
wisdom, and the clan of Scotch and Quarterly Reviewers lugged in to 
boot. This, sir, is a sweeping case of proscription. With the names of 
Say, Smith, and Ganilh I profess to be acquainted ; for I, too, am versed 
in title-pages. But I did not expect to hear in this House a name with 
which I am a little further acquainted treated with so little ceremony, and 
by whom ? I leave Adam Smith to the simplicity and majesty and 
strength of his own native genius, which has canonized his name — a name 
which will be pronounced with veneration, when not a man in this House 
will be remembered." 

2 ' : At present we chiefly know the names of those who are said to be 
candidates ; and none of them stand committed, that I know of, to any 
particular policy or general principle as to national affairs." — Niles' s Reg- 
ister, March, 1823, vol. xxii. p. 1. 



94 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1825 

The rivalry was intense. Clay seized the opportunity that 
his position gave him to rally and organize the scattered 
forces of protection. Without his support the bill must 
have failed. As it was, with every combination of interest 
and politics that could be devised, it was passed only by the 
scant majority of five in the House ' and four in the Senate. 
Had Clay thrown against it the weight of his great influ- 
. ence and authority, protection in the United States, with 
all its attendant and lineal evils, would have met a signal 
and probably an abiding repulse. To aid him in his ef- 
forts to attain the glittering but transient distinction of 
the Presidency, he sacrificed one of the noblest opportu- 
nities of modern times, not only to benefit his country, 
but the world, and to earn a place among the few whose 
names are jewels in the crown of statesmanship. 

The dominating influence that Clay exerted at the first 
session of the Eighteenth Congress was displayed at the 
next in relation to a subject which, though far less im- 
portant than the tariff, was far more spectacular—the elec- 
tion of President by the House of Representatives. Clay's 
course was destined to peculiar historical interest, and to 
produce an unpropitious and enduring effect upon his po- 
litical fortunes. 

The prospect at the beginning of Monroe's Presidency 
had been realized. Federalism, so far as concerned party 



1 "After the passage of the bill on Friday, when the House adjourned 
and the Speaker was stepping down from his seat, a gentleman who had 
voted with the majority, said to him, ' We have done pretty well to-day.' 
'Yes,' returned Mr. Clay. 'We made a good stand, considering that we 
lost both our Feet.' Alluding to Mr. Foot, of Connecticut, and Mr. 
Foote, of New York, who both voted against the bill, though it was 
thought some time ago that they would both support it." — Niles's Register, 
vol. xxvi. p. 143. 



Ch.HL] CLAY AND THE PRESIDENCY 95 

organization, was quite extinct ; and the reigning party, if 
party it could be called, was in a state of disintegration, 
which caused the misnomer of the period, the " era of good 
feeling." The Congressional caucus, which for a time 
hitherto had governed the Presidential succession, had fall- 
en into disrepute. National politics had lost all semblance 
of system or control. Four candidates for the Presidency, 
not materially differing in the political views they professed, 
had entered the field, and no one had secured a majority of 
the Electoral College. The election was thus devolved upon 
the House of Representatives, the choice to be made from 
the three candidates — Jackson, Adams, and Crawford — who 
had received the most electoral votes, 99, 84, and 41, respec- 
tively. This debarred Clay, who had received but 37. 1 Had 
he been one of the three he would unquestionably have 
been elected through his popularity in the House. As it 
was, his preference would determine the result. He was 
accordingly beset by the friends of the several candidates. 

But for Crawford's relation to the election of 1824 he 
would now be quite unremembered, though he had been 
prominent in public life for a long period. He was a native 
of Virginia, whence he emigrated to Georgia in early life. 
He maintained himself by teaching school while preparing 
for the bar ; and upon his admission he settled in the village 
of Lexington. He soon became the chief personage as well 
as the first lawyer of upper Georgia. His rising influence 
brought him into collision with the clique which had long con- 
trolled politics in that part of the State. Out of this arose 
between him and one of the old faction a duel in which he 



1 It was charged that Clay was unfairly deprived of the five votes of 
Louisiana.— Colton's Clay, vol. i. p. 291. For Vice-President, Calhoun re- 
ceived 182 of the 261 votes. 



96 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1825 

killed his adversary, and thus opened a feud the conse- 
quences of which influenced the political history of Georgia 
for more than forty years. In 1S07 he was elected to the 
Senate. He there exhibited much ability and wise modera- 
tion, opposing the restrictive measures, but finally, along 
with Madison, supporting the war. In 1813 he succeeded 
Livingston as Minister to France. Livingston was very deaf, 
and Crawford could not speak French. This led Napoleon 
to remark that the United States had sent him one minister 
that was deaf and one that was dumb. Yet Napoleon was 
much impressed by Crawford, and once said of him, " No 
government but a republic could fostef so much truth and 
simplicity of character as I find in Mr. Crawford." He 
would have been a formidable, if not successful, candidate 
for the Presidency against Monroe, had he not declined to 
oppose him. He served in Monroe's cabinet as Secretary 
of War for a short time and then as Secretary of the Treas- 
ury. He held the latter post at the time of the election, 
with full control of what was left of the party machinery. 
He possessed an exceptionally fine presence and a profound 
mind ; but he must be regarded as an able politician rather 
than a statesman. Save the reminiscences of his political 
acumen, his long continuance in public affairs, and the fact 
that he received more votes than Henry Clay, there is little 
to distinguish his name from the ordinary obscurity of the 
civil lists! Nevertheless, it was alone the loss of health that 
prevented him from attaining the Presidency. In the latter 
part of 1823 he suffered a shock of paralysis so severe that 
for over a year he was unable to sign his name. Clay much 
preferred him, with good reason, to either of the other can- 
didates; and beyond doubt it was solely Crawford's shat- 
tered health that determined Clay not to support him. The 



Ch. III.] CLAY FAVORS ADAMS FOR PRESIDENT 97 

circumstance was scarcely a greater misfortune to Crawford 
than it proved to be to Clay. Crawford retired from public 
life. He afterward partly regained his health, and served 
as a. circuit judge in Georgia from 1827 until his death, in 
183 k 1 

As Clay regarded both Jackson and Adams, to choose be- 
tween them was, in truth, as he expressed it, a choice of 
evils. But he at once decided to support Adams ; he could 
not do otherwise, with decent respect for consistency. When 
his deterxaination became known, and after all other means 
to change It had been exhausted, some of Jackson's friends 
attempted to drive him from it by a performance quite 
characteristic of American politics. 

Some days before the election took place in the House a 
letter appeared in a Philadelphia newspaper asserting that 
Clay had agreed to support Adams on the condition that 
Clay be made Secretary of State. It was further alleged 
that the same terms had been offered to Jackson's friends, 
but that none of them would " descend to such mean barter 
and sale." Although anonymous, the letter purported to 
be written by a member of the House. Clay forthwith 
published a card. He pronounced the writer " a base and 
infamous calumniator, a dastard and a liar ; and," he con- 
tinued, " if he dare unveil himself and avow his name I will 
hold him responsible, as I here admit myself to be, to all 
the laws which govern and regulate men of honor." Two 
days later, in the same paper in which Clay's card appeared, 
the letter was acknowledged by one Kremer, a witless mem- 
ber from Pennsylvania, chiefly known at the capital by a 



1 Sparks's Memories of Fifty Tears, pp. 40, 41, 60 ; Adams's Gallatin, 
p. 598 ; Sumner's Jackson, p. 83. 

7 



98 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1825 

leopard-skin overcoat that he commonly wore. He asserted 
that the statements he had made were true, and that he 
was ready to prove them. A duel with such a character 
would have been ridiculous. The tragedy had turned to 
farce. Something, however, had to be done. Clay im- 
mediately demanded an investigation by a special com- 
mittee of the House, and retracted his hasty challenge by 
stating that the charges, " emanating from such a source, 
this was the only notice he could take of them.'' After 
two days of discussion, such a committee was ebcted. It 
was composed of seven members, none of whom had sup- 
ported Clay for the Presidency. Kremer at once an- 
nounced his willingness to meet the inquiry ; but on the 
morning of the day of the election in the House the com- 
mittee reported that Kremer had declined to appear before 
it, sending a communication in which he denied the Con- 
stitutional power of the House to compel him to testify. 
No further action was taken. Adams was elected, and 
Clay became Secretary of State. 

By Kremer's own admissions he had been induced by 
others to undertake this business. At one time, affrighted 
by the turmoil he had created, he repented and disclaimed ; 
but again stimulated by his prompters, he returned to their 
bidding. The contemptible outcome of the scheme gave 
Clay reason to think that it had been sufficiently exposed 
and could safely be ignored. His mistake was soon appar- 
ent. Never was a groundless political scandal more effec- 
tive. It was at once revived with intensified force and per- 
sistence. A strong effort was made in the Senate to reject 
his nomination; fifteen Senators, including Jackson him- 
self, voted against it. This attempt failing, the cry of 
" bargain and corruption " was industriously started to in- 



Ch. III.] CLAY AS SECRETARY OF STATE 99 

fluence the next election. The extreme propriety of the 
appointment was entirely lost sight of, as was also the fact 
— then well known in Washington, and now on all hands 
admitted — that the only attempt at bargain was made by 
Jackson's friends. However plain it was to those in posi- 
tion to know the facts, it was natural that the rank and file 
of those who favored Jackson should regard Clay's appoint- 
ment as the absolute demonstration of a deal. By accept- 
ing it he deliberately made himself the victim of circum- 
stantial evidence. And to hostile minds the unfortunate 
appearance was heightened by the differences between him 
and Adams during the negotiations at Ghent, his subse- 
quent attitude concerning a public controversy between 
Russell and Adams as to what took place there, and his 
severe criticism of Adams and the policy of Monroe's ad- 
ministration toward the South American states. 

For several days he hesitated to accept the place, which 
Adams had immediately tendered. His friends were at first 
divided in their opinions regarding it, but they finally con- 
curred in advising its acceptance. Even friends of Craw- 
ford and Jackson joined in this advice, although Crawford 
himself refused Adams's tender of the Treasury Department. 
For the position itself Clay was not desirous, and he as- 
sumed its duties with reluctance. "What chiefly determined 
him was the belief that, if he did not accept, it would be 
argued that he dared not. The prospect of such an accusa- 
tion was more obnoxious to him than the other horn of the 
dilemma. He, therefore, took the alternative of bold de- 
fiance. 

With one exception, Clay's administration of the Depart- 
ment of State was not marked by any event of much his- 
torical importance. More treaties, principally commercial 



100 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1827 

arrangements with the lesser powers, were concluded dur- 
ing his term than during the previous existence of the 
government, a result somewhat due to Clay's person- 
al popularity" with the foreign ministers at Washington. 1 
Urgent efforts were also made to perfect a mutually satis- 
factory adjustment of our commercial relations with Great 
Britain and her dependencies ; but the efforts were unavail- 
ing, except to keep palpably alive the questions involved. As 
the chief exponent of protection, Clay shared the theory that 
almost universally prevailed in commercial diplomacy — an 
eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. By an Order in 
Council in 1S26 the British government prohibited all com- 
mercial intercourse between the West Indies and the United 
States, our government having failed to take advantage of 
an opportunity for reciprocity for which provision had been 
made by an act of Parliament, if made within a year there- 
after ; Clay, and also Gallatin, then minister to England, 
were unable to obtain the repeal of the order, despite the abil- 
ity with which they presented our side of the case. In 1827, 
under an act passed four years previously, the President 
issued a retaliatory proclamation. One difficulty of long 
standing with England, however, Clay succeeded in settling : 
he secured an indemnity for slaves forcibly taken by the 
British during the War of 1812. In another instance, also, 
the interests of the slave-holders, which had now begun to 
appear on the surface of most of our public affairs, sought 
diplomatic aid. The House adopted a resolution requesting 



1 "In his intercourse with foreign ministers Mr. Clay had an opportunity 
to display all the charms of his uuequalled courtesy ; they remained his 
friends long after he retired. His Wednesday dinners and his pleasant 
evening receptions were remembered for many years." — Parton's Famous 
Americans, p. 39. 



Ch. III.] CLAY AND THE PANAMA MISSION 101 

the President to open negotiations for the recovery of slaves 
that had escaped into Canada, in return for deserters from 
the British army and navy. The proposition was advanced, 
but the British government very decently declined the barter. 
With Mexico a boundary treaty was effected ; but with Spain 
nothing could be accomplished, much as Clay then desired 
to purchase the province of Texas. He also endeavored to 
procure the mediation of the Emperor of Eussia to induce 
Spain to recognize the independence of the South American 
republics, on condition that she retain her sovereignty over 
Cuba and Porto Rico, as our government desired that they 
should not come under the dominion of any other foreign 
naval power, because of their command of the Gulf. 

The most prominent feature of his diplomatic administra- 
tion was the Panama mission. The subject was opened early. 
The Spanish- American republics had arranged for a congress, 
which was to meet on the Isthmus. The principal objects 
were to secure co-operation against Spain, which had not 
recognized their independence, to frame a system for the 
regulation of their commercial and other relations, and to 
counteract the operations of the Holy Alliance. After Clay 
had been sounded in regard to it our government was in- 
vited to send plenipotentiaries. The project received his 
cordial approval. Adams, who, as Secretary of State, had 
opposed Clay's early manoeuvres to procure the recognition 
of the South American states, now readily assented to his 
views on the subject, and the invitation was accepted. The 
Congress seemed to promise great possibilities, despite the 
hazard of European embroilment. If guided by the counsels 
of our government it would combine the international in- 
terests of the entire American hemisphere, carrying into 
practical and complete effect the Monroe Doctrine, and fur- 



102 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1826 

ther the principles of religious liberty and the extermination 
of the slave-trade. 1 

The nomination of the envoys was at length confirmed by 
the Senate and an appropriation for their salaries and ex- 
penses passed after strenuous opposition on every available 
ground. Yet, to Clay's sincere sorrow, the whole project 
was finally frustrated. The delay caused by the prolonged 
debates prevented our representatives from reaching the 
Isthmus in time for the congress. When they arrived it 
had adjourned to meet at a later time in Mexico ; but when 
the time came the renewed dissensions among the Southern 
republics rendered the congress impossible. Thus failed 
Clay's darling plan. . Nor was it until sixty-five years later 
that it was revived, by Blaine, when the conditions had 
radically changed. The reason for its early failure and the 
slow progress of republican institutions in the Spanish- 
American countries lay in the unschooled character of the 
peoples who were barbarously struggling to adopt them. 
Since that time those peoples have been gradually fused 
with intelligent enterprise from the United States, which, 
like the influence of ancient Greece upon all her surround- 
ings, has been slowly transforming the general character of 
the other American populations from Canada to Chili. 

It was the President's announcement of the Panama mis- 
sion to Congress that occasioned the first assault on his ad- 
ministration. It was politically necessary for his eager 
adversaries to find some ground of attack, and this was the 



i "My Panama instructions were the most elaborate, and (if I may be 
allowed to speak of them) the ablest state paper that I composed while in 
the Department of State. They contain an exposition of liberal principles 
regulating maritime war, neutral rights, etc., which will command the ap- 
probation of enlightened men of posterity." — Clay to Ullman, September 
26, 1851. 



Ch. III.] CLAY'S DUEL WITH RANDOLPH 103 

first that offered. Besides, the whole subject was distasteful 
to the slave-holders generally, as there were many negroes 
and mulattoes among the revolutionary leaders in the new 
republics. There was also some possibility of the scheme 
leading to a movement to procure the independence of Cuba, 
Hayti, and Porto Rico, where the colored population was 
large. A negro republic in the vicinity of the Gulf States 
was a most repulsive prospect. 

In the course of one of the several debates concerning the 
Panama mission, John Randolph delivered against the ad- 
ministration in general, and Clay in particular, an harangue 
of such unbridled truculence that it resulted in a duel. It 
was the climax of an antipathy which had existed between 
them since Clay's first entrance into the House. 1 

Randolph is the most unique figure in our political history. 
So long as the period with which his life is mingled retains 
its interest he will be remembered and his utterances will be 
quoted. No man ever had a more curious political career, 
and no man ever used the English tongue with more pun- 
gent power. He came into the House in 1799, and re- 
mained in Congress, with two brief interruptions, until 1830. 
In 1801 he became the administration leader in the House. 
His opportunities and his influence for a time were very 
great. He then fell out with the Jefferson regime, and in 
1806 began his long career of opposition. His party had 
pushed him aside. His temper and eccentricities had much 
to do with it, yet candor must admit that his stanch ad- 



1 "Mr. Randolph sat near Mr. Seaton, and on one occasion when Mr. 
Clay, speaking in his not unusual personal and self-sufficient strain, said 
among other things that his ' parents had left him nothing hut indigence 
and ignorance,' Randolph, turning to Mr. Seaton, said in a stage whisper 
to he heard hy the House : ' The gentleman might continue the alliter- 
ation and add insolence.'" — Life of Seaton, p. 152. 



104 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1826 

herence to his original principles had more. The exigen- 
cies of politics and the possession of power had gradually 
drawn Jefferson and the Virginian school from their pris- 
tine faith. Randolph was never again to represent author- 
ity, but he remained to the end of his days the most con- 
sistent advocate, barring his occasional extravagancies and 
aberrations, of the true theory of government. It is one of 
the seeming paradoxes of politics that the ablest early ex- 
ponents of democracy were slave-holders. 1 

Some notion of Randolph's quaint appearance and strange 
personality may be derived from nearly every political his- 
tory and biography relating to his times. Many a stretch 
of otherwise barren and dreary annals is enlivened by the 
magic of his wonderful, but eccentric and at times mani- 
acal, genius. His touch usually left a gleam of light or a 
dash of color. 2 It was, however, seldom the radiance of 
poetic imagination, but rather the flash of almost super- 
natural insight, the glare of satirical wit, or too often the 
stain of cruel and malignant invective, like the trail of the 
knout upon human flesh. There is no more stupid read- 
ing in all the wide range of ambitious print than is con- 



1 "Jefferson was a States-rights man and a strict constructionist be- 
cause he was a Eepublican, Randolph because he was a Virginian ; Jeffer- 
son thought that government should be small that the people might be 
great, Randolph thought that government should be small that Virginia 
might be great. . . . Here we have the explanation of the great puzzle 
of American politics — the unnatural alliance, for sixty years, between the 
plantation lords of the South and the democracy of the North, both vener- 
ating the name of Jefferson, and both professing his principles." — Parton's 
Famous Americans, p. 191. Edmund Burke's explanation is more profound. 
In speaking of the Southern colonies, he said : " Freedom is to them not 
only an enjoyment, but a kind of rank and privilege. ... In such a peo- 
ple the haughtiness of domination combines with the spirit of freedom, 
fortifies it, and renders it invincible." 

- See Garland's Randolph, vol. ii. p. 300 ; Life of Quincy, p. 343. 



Ch. III.] RANDOLPH'S BRILLIANT ORATORY 105 

tained in the Congressional debates. A truly good speech 
is such a rarity that it fairly shines from the dingy, double- 
columned pages. But Randolph's speeches, rambling and 
disjointed as they are, seem like glittering nuggets amid 
the arid sands. From his letters and speeches could be col- 
lected a volume of passages equal in style and force to any- 
thing in the language. When at his best, however dis- 
cursive, he was terse, simple, and direct, epigrammatic and 
scintillating. His delicate idiom and the range of his illus- 
tration betoken a critical acquaintance with the classics and 
avast variety of reading. The first book he read was Vol- 
taire's Charles XII. ; the next was the Spectator. So re- 
markable was his precocity that he was familiar w T ith Shake- 
speare, Plutarch, Fielding, and Cervantes before he was eleven 
years of age. 

On no occasion did he make much preparation for his 
speeches, usually none at all. He would leisurely enter the 
chamber and then give close attention to the business in 
progress. If it attracted his interest he would rise at the 
first opportunity and speak perhaps for three or four hours, 
with absolute ease, in tones that were silver except when 
emphasis or passion made them shrill. Yet the greater 
part of what he said in his later years had little or no con- 
nection w y ith the subject that called him up. 1 

He was essentially dramatic. His interested presence 



1 "I heard him between three and four hours. His speech, as usual, 
had neither beginning, middle, nor end. Egotism, Virginian aristocracy, 
slave-scourging liberty, religion, literature, science, wit, fancy, generous 
feelings, and malignant passions constitute a chaos in his mind from which 
nothing orderly can ever flow." — Adams's Diary, vol. iv. p. 532. An ac- 
curate idea of his style and manner, its piquancy, desultoriness, and irrele- 
vancy to the subject of debate may be obtained from Niles's Register, vol. 
xsx. pp. 180, 451. 



106 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1806 

could transform routine into a spectacular episode. 1 Nor 
were his most peculiar effects always produced by a speech ; 
his acting was sometimes even more efficient. A striking 
instance of it took place in 180G. A new member, Barnabas 
Bid well, of Massachusetts, had come into the House; and 
from his high reputation at home he was supposed to be a 
potent acquisition to the administration forces. On the oc- 
casion of his first speech, which had been duly advertised, 
Bandolph was present. He always rode to the Capitol fol- 
lowed by a black servant, both being finely mounted. " He 
was dressed," says Quincy, "in his usual morning costume — 
his skeleton legs cased in tight-fitting leather breeches and 
top-boots, with a blue riding-coat, and the thick buckskin 
gloves from which he was never parted, and a heavily loaded 
riding -whip in his hand. After listening attentively for 
about a quarter of an hour he rose deliberately, settled his 
hat on his head, and walked slowly out of the House, strik- 
ing the handle of his whip emphatically upon the palm of 
his left hand, and regarding poor Bidwell, as he passed him, 
with a look of insolent contempt, as much as to say, 'I have 
taken your measure, sir, and shall give myself no further 
concern about you !' It helped to extinguish effectually the 
new light from whom the administration had hoped so 
much. Mr. Bidwell acquired no weight in the House, and 
left Congress at the end of his term." 2 

Randolph's family was one of the oldest, most numerous, 
and wealthy of Virginia. It was always a source of pride 
with him that he was a descendant of Pocahontas. There 
is a touch of, perhaps, fanciful suggestiveness in the fact 
that until 1810 he resided on one of his plantations called, 



1 Recollections of John Binns, p. 2-iO. ^ Life of Quincy, p. 95. 



Ch. III.] SOME OF RANDOLPH'S CHARACTERISTICS 107 

and before his birth, Bizarre. 1 He must have been without 
strong ambition for preferment ; for, by separating from 
the only party he could ever expect to co-operate with for 
any length of time, he deliberately flung away every future 
chance. Throughout his career a faithful constituency, 
which revolted but once, made him without effort secure of 
a seat in the House. Thus the extreme independence of his 
position, with the increasing plague of bodily infirmity and 
an uncontrollable tendency to morbidness of mind, produced 
what appeared like arrogance, but was, in truth, despairing 
discontent and total indifference to the ordinary considera- 
tions of policy. 2 In a speech in 1824 he casually remarked, 
" I have not the honor to know personally, or even by name, 
a large portion of the members of this House." There is no 
reasonable doubt that the extreme eccentricities and corrosive 
malignities that began early to characterize him were the 



1 "In 1810 he removed to Roanoke. ... On Sunday, March 21, 1813, 
the house at Bizarre took lire. 'I lost,' says he, 'a valuable collection of 
books. Iu it was a whole body of infidelity ; the Encyclopaedia of Diderot 
and D'Alerabert, Voltaire's works, seventy volumes ; Rousseau, thirteen 
quartos ; Hume, etc., etc.'" — Garland's Randolph, vol. ii. p. 9. 

2 "My powers, such as they are, have not been improved by culture. 
The first time I ever dreamed of speaking in public was on the eve of my 
election, in March, 1799, when I opposed myself (fearful odds) to Patrick 
Henry. My manner is spontaneous, like my matter, from the impulse of 
the moment ; and when I do not feel strongly I cannot speak to any pur- 
pose. These fits are independent of my volition. . . . During the last four 
or five years I have perceived a sensible decline of my powers, which I 
estimate with as much impartiality as you would ; in a word, as if they be- 
longed to another. I am not better persuaded of the loss of my grinders 
or of tlie wrinkles in my face — and care as much for the one as the other." — 
Randolph to Key, February 17, 1814. " This letter is written as children 
whistle in the dark, to keep themselves from being afraid. I dare not look 
upon that ' blank and waste of the heart' within. Dreary, desolate, dis- 
mal — there is no word iu our language, or any other, that can express the 
misery of my life. I drag on like a tired captive at the end of a slave-chain 
in an African coffle." — June 12, 1821. 



108 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1826 

brood of partial and increasing insanity, despite the common 
assertion, a relic of the antislavery struggles, that he was 
an instance of total depravity, a demon in human form. 
"Whatever may be said of his errors and his faults, while he 
sat in Congress buncombe and dishonesty stood in whole- 
some terror of his scathing and merciless tongue. 

With the events that caused the strife over the admission 
of Missouri, Randolph had begun to recover a degree of per- 
sonal influence. He soon became the recognized leader of 
the slave-holding interest, which was rapidly growing in 
purpose and power as a political factor. 1 He was organiz- 
ing the South to a s} T stematic defence of that interest and 
formulating the political theory by which it was to be main- 
tained. It was wholly derived from the political doctrines 
with which he had begun his public life, but which were to 
be shorn of their noble virtue by being cramped and dis- 
torted in the service of slavery. Clay was the chief obstacle 
to the political union of the slave power. His efforts in 
bringing about the Missouri Compromise, against Randolph's 
untiring opposition, fanned the slumbering flame of his old 
hatred into a frenzy that burst forth with every opportu- 
nity, and an opportunity presented itself Avith every general 
subject that came before Congress. During the debates on 
internal improvements and the tariff he assailed Clay with 
vehemence and venom ; but when the discussion of the 
Panama mission opened the way he gave full vent to his 
unparalleled power of invective. He repeated in his charac- 
teristic style all the motley aspersions against Adams and 



1 "The two words, 'dough faces,' " said Clay, in 1838, in reference to 
Randolph's hostility to the Missouri Compromise, "with which that gentle- 
man rated and taunted our Northern friends, did more injury than any two 
words I have ever known." 



Ch. III.] RESULT OF RANDOLPH'S VITUPERATION 109 

Clay. Among them he insinuated that the invitations to 
participate in the congress were practically a fraud because 
they had been written or inspired by the State Department. 
Later on, in reference to another affair, he uttered a sen- 
tence that is one of the most famous ever spoken in Con- 
gress: "I was defeated, horse, foot, and dragoons — cut up 
and clean broke down by a coalition of Blifil and Black 
George — by a combination, unheard of till then, of the 
Puritan with the blackleg." He then descended into such 
malevolence as to berate Clay's parents for bringing into the 
world " this being, so brilliant yet so corrupt, which, like a 
rotten mackerel by moonlight, shines and stinks." 

The more vicious bits of this flagrant diatribe were soon 
retailed through Washington. Clay was enraged, and forth- 
with challenged Randolph to a duel. An effort was made 
by friends to effect a reconciliation, but it failed : Ran- 
dolph's language was never of doubtful meaning. The duel, 
however, which came off in the most high-toned fashion, 
proved harmless. Randolph had determined not to fire at 
Clay, and Clay was inexpert with the pistol. Two shots 
were fired. Before the first one, Randolph changed his mind 
and tried to disable Clay; with the second shot he recov- 
ered his original purpose and fired in the air. Fortunately, 
Clay did nothing worse than to spoil Randolph's coat by 
sending two bullets through it. Then, in an affecting scene, 
the men made up. 1 This was Clay's last experience as a 
duellist. 

Although Clay's efforts while Secretary of State in be- 

1 Benton's Thirty Team' View, vol. i. p. 77 ; Prentice's Life of Clay, 
p. 299. For a curious parallel between this duel and a contemporaneous 
one between the Duke of Wellington and Lord Winchelsea, see Life of 
Quincy, p. 169. Randolph was Minister to Russia in 1830. He died in 
1833. 



110 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1826 

half of the South American republics did not attain im- 
mediate results, they were not in vain. His zeal in that 
office was the culmination of his long-sustained interest in 
the subject ; and time alone could produce the full fruition 
of his labors. It was the impulse he originated which 
matured into the Monroe Doctrine, and must eventually 
render the influence of the United States dominant in the 
western hemisphere. To him more than to any one else 
belongs the credit of this result. With egregious vanity, 
but in brilliant phrase, Canning claimed this distinction. 
In the House of Commons in 1826 he asserted that he 
"called the New World into existence to redress the bal- 
ance of the Old." As Premier of the British government 
he did indeed materially aid the South American cause ; 
but Clay was the first to espouse and elevate it, and it was 
he that contributed most to make it popular and powerful. 1 
Like that phase which came within the compass of the 
State Department, Adams's entire administration was quite 
unsignalized except by its general excellence. It } T ields but 
little to animate the interest of the curious reader. Eush, 
of Pennsylvania, was Secretary of the Treasury ; Barbour, 
of Virginia, Secretary of War; McLean, of Ohio, Post- 
master-General ; and Wirt, of Maryland, Attorney-General. 
Nothing disturbed the tranquillity and steadily advancing 
prosperity of the country. In this respect no administra- 
tion has ever been more colorless. The affairs to which the 
turbulent condition of politics gave rise were small and 



1 Rush, to Clay, June 27, 1827. In 1827 Bolivar wrote to Clay a letter 
expressing his appreciation of Clay's services to South American inde- 
pendence. In his reply, Clay took occasion to admonish Bolivar that 
"ambitious designs " had been imputed to him, but with delicate earnest- 
ness affirming his confidence in Bolivar's patriotic purposes. 



Ch. III.] ADAMS ASSUMES THE PRESIDENCY 111 

transient, and mostly confined to Washington : there were 
no railroads or telegraphs to distribute the daily guess- 
work and piecemeal that mainly fill the columns of the 
modern newspaper. The principal topic that engrossed the 
public mind was the next Presidential election ; but the 
general discussion was conducted upon the same lines as it 
was on the day of Adams's election by the House. There 
being nothing in his administration to excite popular disap- 
proval, the only contributions to the discussion were new 
personal scandals and fresh versions of the old ones. 

Adams came into office exempt from party or personal 
pledges, yet in a manner very unsatisfying to his pride and 
ambition. He entered upon the discharge of his duties with 
an ideal appreciation of his responsibilities ; and no Chief 
Magistrate, here or elsewhere, has ever surpassed his austere 
and unswerving efforts to banish politics from the perform- 
ance of his public duties. He has often been denomi- 
nated one of the few statesmen who have held the Presi- 
dency. Most of his life had been devoted to the public 
service in distinguished positions — diplomatic, legislative, 
and executive. He may be said to have begun his public 
career at the age of fourteen, as secretary to the American 
envoy to Russia. Then, in a like capacity, he served his 
father and Franklin when they negotiated the Treaty of 
1783, by which England formally recognized the indepen- 
dence of the United States. Instead of continuing as secre- 
tary to his father, who was then appointed Minister to the 
Court of St. James, he wisely decided to return home and 
finish his education. 

Although his reading was extensive and thorough, and 
he had enjoyed the invaluable advantage of mingling with 
some of the greatest men of both Europe and America, his 



112 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1825 

schooling: bad been confined to such snatches as be could 
get while sojourning at Paris, Amsterdam, and Leyden. He 
prepared himself as quickly as possible and entered the 
junior class at Harvard. Graduating, he qualified for the 
bar and began practice at Boston. But he soon acquired 
more reputation for his contributions to the press on in- 
ternational topics than he gained in the profession. He 
was then sent as Minister to The Hague, whence he was 
transferred to London, and thence to Berlin. On Jefferson's 
election he again returned to Massachusetts and was suc- 
cessively elected to the State Seriate and the Senate of the 
United States. 

Thus far he had been a stanch Federalist ; but he now 
entered upon a course that soon identified him completely 
with the "Republicans. To the astonishment of the New 
England Federalists, he approved the Louisiana purchase. 
This departure from party fealty, although it involved no 
change of principles, was followed by his supporting Jeffer- 
son's restrictive measures. The intense anger and disgust of 
the Federalists, who stigmatized his conduct with all the 
epithets that can be applied to apostasy and treason, led 
him to resign before his term expired. But he was not 
abandoned by the Kepublicans. Madison straightway ap- 
pointed him Minister to Russia, where he remained over 
four years, thence going to Ghent and to London, and then 
entering Monroe's cabinet as Secretary of State. 

Had he joined the Republican party because of the better 
prospects it afforded him, he could not have done so at a 
more propitious time and with better results ; and to minds 
inclined to be cynical, his immediate preferment, under the 
circumstances, is convincing proof that he was actuated by 
material motives. This fact led a rrreat number to believe 



Ch. III.] ADAMS'S UNBENDING CHARACTER 113 

him to the end of his days entirely capable of doing anything 
necessary to further his designs. Nevertheless, from the 
ample evidence by which to judge him, most critics, how- 
ever hostile, unite in imputing to him no unworthy motives. 
And besides this, to those practically conversant with the 
ways of politics, the conduct he pursued while President 
demonstrates that he was entirely without political art. It 
may be safely asserted that, without his hereditary advan- 
tages, he would not have achieved a distinguished public 
career. He possessed extraordinary powers of mind in some 
respects, yet he was curiously limited in others. In a large 
and practical sense he was not a statesman. He had no 
faculty whatever for political leadership ; and in the world 
as it is the statesman must in a large degree possess it. His 
long and varied experience seemed only to intensify his 
narrow and unbending Puritanism. He was so rigidly and 
minutely true to his convictions that his marvellous honesty 
was incredible to the strifes and passions of his time. It was 
inevitable that such a rare man should be thought by many 
to be a knave and hypocrite. His main fault was that he 
was not callous enough to the minor defects in the minds 
and characters of those about him, and to the petty evils of 
one kind and another, always present and unavoidable, and 
which must be philosophically recognized and utilized to 
accomplish any considerable results in public life. 

As much as Adams desired and deserved a second term 
at the hands of the people, he not only abstained rigorously 
from doing aught to aid his chances, but acted with such 
apparent indifference to them that he ruined any possibility 
he might have had. 1 He flatly refused to make any removals 

1 "Mr. Adams, during his administration, failed to cherish, strengthen, 
or even recognize the party to which he owed his election ; nor, so far as 



114 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1828 

from office except for breach of duty. He thus, and against 
the urgent protests of Clay and others, wholly deprived 
himself of any assistance that might be gained from the 
bestowal of patronage. He went so absurdly far in this 
course as to allow to remain in office even those w T ho had 
passed the bounds of decency in reviling him and his 
administration. This lost to him the support of a large 
body that would have stood by him had he offered any 
prospect of advantage. He offered none. He put himself 
without the pale of politics. He seemed barren of any 
sentiment of appreciation for personal services. His tem- 
perament was cold and acrid ; his manner abstracted and 
ungracious. 1 In his opinion whatever ought to be granted 
required no other reason ; and whatever ought not to be de- 
served no civility. His refusal was like a blow in the face, and 
no one receiving it forgot or forgave. His entire conduct 
partook of his character — it was devoid of policy. He was 
the complete obverse of the popular politician. In whatever 



I am informed, with the great power which he possessed did he make a 
single influential political friend." — Thurlow Weed's Autobiography, vol. i. 
p. 180. 

'"I was told that when he was a candidate for the Presidency his 
friends persuaded him to go to a cattle show. Among the persons who 
addressed him was a respectable farmer who impulsivel} r exclaimed, ' Mr. 
Adams, I am very glad to see you. My wife, when she was a gal, lived in 
your father's house ; you were then a little bo3% and she has often combed 
your head.' 'Well,' said Mr. Adams, in a harsh voice, 'I suppose she 
combs yours now !' " — Ames's Ten Years in Washington, p. 210. "The two 
candidates, Mr. Adams, the elect, and Generaljackson, the defeated, acciden- 
tally met in the East Room. General Jackson, who was escorting a lady, 
promptly extended his hand, saying, pleasantly, ' How do you do, Mr. 
Adams ? I give you my left hand, for the right, as you see, is devoted to 
the fair. I hope you are very well, sir.' All this was gallantly and 
heartily said and done. Mr. Adams took the General's hand, and said, 
with chilling coolness, ' Very Well, sir ; I hope General Jackson is well.' " — 
Reminiscences of B. P. Poore, vol. i. p. 26. 



Ch. III.] A VENOMOUS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN 115 

policy he advocated — as, for instance, his scheme of internal 
improvements — he went to the uttermost of his convictions, 
apparently indifferent to the prospect of success and without 
effort to qualify or accommodate, thus driving into the swell- 
ing ranks of his adversaries all those whose views were not 
as radical and uncompromising as his own. But, with the 
most popular genius and politic judgment, it would have been 
difficult for him to obtain a second term. From the hour of 
his election, war without scruple was waged against him. 
With the first general election after his term began, and for 
the first time in the history of the government, a majority 
of both Houses of Congress came in against the administra- 
tion. The opposition grew constantly in strength and vio- 
lence. There being no important policy or principle in party 
controversy, the sole issue was Adams or Jackson in 1828. 
The campaign was the longest and the most scandalous 
American politics has ever known. Everything that ran- 
corous and conscienceless partisan invention could concoct 
was fused into the noisome atmosphere. 1 Nor were Adams 
and Clay the sole objects of this pestilence of slander. 
Charges of the most infamous character were made against 
Jackson ; and his variegated career was full of unique 
and serviceable material upon which to found campaign 
calumny. So serious were some of the charges that it was 
deemed needful formally to refute them by means of a " white- 
washing committee," as it was dubbed, composed of several 
eminent citizens of Tennessee. J Even Jackson's wife, a plain 
and inoffensive woman whom'lie in early life had married, 



1 "I am alternately diverted and disgusted with the scenes "which are 
passing around me. Such working, toiling, and sweating ; such mining 
and countermining; such lying, abusing, quarrelling, and almost fighting 
for a little short-lived distinction."— Wirt, to Pope, March 23, 1828. 



116 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

and had been obliged to remarry because she had not been 
fully divorced from her former husband, was not exempt 
from attack ; soon after the election she died of the grief 
occasioned by the abuse to which she had been subjected 
during this shameless canvass. This rankled in Jackson's 
mind to the close of his life and inflamed his animosity 
against his opponents in that campaign to a degree that ap- 
proached insanity. 

His hatred of Clay was fierce and implacable. He fully 
believed him capable of any thingof which he could be accused, 
and he himself gave currency to the " bargain and corruption" 
cry. Nothing could quell it. It was printed, placarded, and 
harped upon throughout the land. 1 It was disproved time 
and time again as effectually as any such charge can be 
disproved. Every person ever named as having any actual 
knowledge concerning it, even those nearest Jackson and 
the most ardent in his support, admitted their inability to 
substantiate a single particular. 2 Clay wrote elaborate 
addresses and made exhaustive speeches in which he demon- 
strated the utter groundlessness of the accusation. Several 
times it was thought to be annihilated ; but that was a 
mistaken notion; it still thrived, in company with a varie- 
ty of congenial aspersions against his personal habits and 
character. 3 Argument had little force against the potent 



1 Baldwin's Party Leaders, p. 309. 

2 Benton furnished conclusive evidence of Clay's innocence. — Thirty 
Years' View, vol. i. p. 48. Even Buchanan, to whom Jackson referred as his 
only source of information, disclaimed all knowledge.— Colton's Life of 
Clay, vol. i. p. 352. See also a letter from Lafayette in Clay's Correspond- 
ence, p. 180. 

3 Among the many slanders against him was the misrepresentation of 
his financial condition. " I am not free, absolutely, from debt," he wrote to 
a friend. "lam not rich. I never coveted riches. But my estate would 
even now be estimated at not much less than $100,000." 



Ch. III.] JACKSON ELECTED PRESIDENT 117 

fact that he bad elected Adams and was Secretary of State. 
On the Kentucky stump he was unable to pursue the line of 
dignified refutation ; his language lost all moderation and 
restraint and became the vehicle of raving wrath. 1 The 
complete history of that lie would form many volumes. 
What Clay alone wrote and spoke about it would fill several. 
For a generation a large portion of the people believed the 
charge ; and many thought that, although it might not be 
true, Clay's support of Adams, after Jackson had received a 
plurality of the electoral votes, was a political crime — a con- 
clusion that will not bear analysis. 

The result of the contest was Jackson's signal triumph. 
Even Kentucky went for him. Adams retired in the shadow 
of deep humiliation ; and Clay, with broken health and 
spirits. 2 Yet before both of them lay the most arduous, yet 
the most brilliant part of their careers. 

Clay at once returned to Ashland, his home. It was 
neither his desire nor intention to resume the practice of law, 
and after this period his appearance in court was only occa- 
sional. His chief interest, aside from politics, was in agri- 
cultural pursuits, which he enjoyed as an expert, with all 
the means to indulge his skill and inclinations. His estate 
was one of the best in Kentucky. It contained some six 
hundred acres of land near Lexington. It was originally 
owned by Daniel Boone, and finally came by descent into N 
the possession of Lucretia Hart, whom Clay married in 
1799. Here, ten } 7 ears later, he erected the mansion that 
became one of the historic homes of America. Mount Ver- 
non and Monticello are scarcely more famous. The 



1 Parton's Jackson, vol. iii. p. 180. 

8 Adams's Diary, vol. vii. pp. 439, 517 ; Life of George Ticknor, vol. i. 
p. 381. 



118 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

site is on a slight eminence overlooking the city two miles 
distant. The house was built of brick, in a plain style of 
architecture, staid and comfortable in appearance rather than 
imposing. At either end of the oblong and spacious main 
building, two stories and a half in height, is an ample one- 
story wing; and all are topped with tall, substantial chim- 
neys. The interior, somewhat peculiar in arrangement, was 
finished and furnished with admirable effect. The grounds 
and surroundings were in picturesque harmony Avith the 
house. Thus Ashland was in all respects worthy of the dis- 
tinction it was soon to acquire as the Mecca of the "Whigs 
and a point of attraction to notable visitors from abroad. 1 

Cla}r's success as a farmer w r as quite equal to that as an 
advocate. He w T as a judge of fine-bred horses and stock, 2 
and in the Blue-Grass Region of Kentucky this means much. 
Though he was chiefly interested in stock-raising, agricult- 
ure was not slighted. The products of the garden and dairy 
were sufficient to meet the expenses of the farm. He 
conducted many experiments of various kinds, and made 
fertilization and hemp the subjects of considerable study. 
He wrote a pamphlet on the cultivation of hemp, an article 
which he always sedulously protected by his tariff policy. 
The labor on the estate was performed by slaves, of whom he 
had about fifty. His chief assistant was his wife, who was 
accounted as good a farmer as any in the neighborhood. 3 
She was thoroughly domestic, seldom accompanying her 
husband to Washington to participate in the society of the 
capital. During his protracted absences she competently ad- 
ministered the affairs of Ashland. Indeed, we may well sur- 



1 Century Magazine, vol. xxxiii. pp. 163, 169. 

2 Niks' 's Register, vol. xlviii. p. 362. 3 Colton's Clay, vol. i. p. 34. 



Ch. III. J PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF CLAY 119 

mise that the success of the establishment was largely clue 
to the intelligence and skill with which she executed Clay's 
agricultural policy. She was the mother of eleven children — 
five boys and six girls. 1 Her last child was born in 1821. 
In 1845 she had fifteen grandchildren. She survived her 
husband and most of her children. 

Clay's personal appearance and bearing were not espe- 
cially distinguished. He did not arrest the attention of 
strangers by any unwonted cast of countenance or peculiar- 
it}' - of manner. He was tall, rather thin, with somewhat 
narrow and sloping shoulders. He was seldom entirely 
robust, having a tendency to consumption, that betrayed 
itself at intervals through his life, and of which he finally 
died. His head was not large, but symmetrical and well 
poised, the forehead full and slightly retreating. 2 In early 
life his hair was quite flaxen, and though in later years 
when hoary it grew sparsely in front, it was abundant 
enough to prevent all appearance of baldness. He had the 
gray eyes so common to genius and fine intelligence. In 
repose they were not markedly expressive, but with excite- 
ment or emotion they flamed with various lights. His 
features were plain, even homely. They were nowise pe- 
culiar or striking, with the exception of the mouth, which 
was unusually large, with thinnish, straight, and closely set 
lips. His complexion to the last was very fair and smooth. 
The facial muscles were extremely flexile and in the highest 
degree responsive to his thoughts and feelings. This latter 



1 Amos Kendall's Autobiography, p. 115. 

2 "Considering the volume of the brain, or size of the head, it has the 
best adjusted faculties I have ever seen. The skull, after death, will give 
no idea of his power, as he derives the whole of it from his temperament." 
— Life of Horace Mann, p. 282. 



120 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

was the one physical attribute, besides his voice, that gave 
distinction to his presence when he spoke or was moved. 
It was this harmony of movement and expression, in combi- 
nation with a voice marvellous in its richness, variety, and 
power, that produced the singular spell he exerted. His 
entire composition seemed plain and neutral, that his highly 
emotional nature might have a perfect instrument of mani- 
festation. 

As might be supposed from these characteristics, his man- 
ner had great charm. It gave the impression of frankness, 
freedom, and generosity, and was ordinarily coupled with a 
contagious buoyancy and sanguineness of spirits. He was 
extremely convivial, keenly enjoying the society of his 
friends. He was far from being an epicure, yet he was 
fastidious in his tastes. He indulged moderately in wine, 
took snuff, after the fashion of the period, and used tobacco 
freely. In earlier daj^s he lost and won large sums at play; 
but in consequence of the censure he encountered, he ceased 
the practice of gaming, though he always remained inveter- 
ately fond of whist. In most respects, so far as manners and 
habits were concerned, he was a typical Southern gentle- 
man. 1 Placed in elevated positions and thrown among able 
men at an early age, he soon acquired that ease and grace 
which follow capacity and experience of the world. This 



1 " His sentiments were always fine, and his animal passions weak. In 
all the animal proclivities, Webster and Clay were wide apart. Webster 
was like a catfish — gross and omnivorous ; Clay like a brook-trout — fas- 
tidious even in taking the gilded fly. ... I have never seen him perform 
a disrespectful action, or heard from his lips a sensual word in regard 
to women in my life ; yet his sympathy with intellectual, virtuous women 
was intense and his magnetism pre-eminent. With homely features, he 
had the plastic radiation of countenance which at times seemed like inspi- 
ration. Women were crazy in his presence, and grave men filled with un- 
usual enthusiasm." — Life of Cassius M. Clay, vol. i. p. 96. 



Ch. III.] MENTAL QUALITIES OF CLAY 121 



lay be almost necessarily implied from his elocution ; for 
great power and smoothness of speech are quite incom- 
. patible with angularity of mind or manner. While he had 
^ superiors in various departments and particulars, in his 
generation there lived no man who rivalled his peculiar 
•ombination of heart, mind, and address. There were many 
who surpassed him in range, variety, and solidity of learn- 
ing; many, in closeness and severity of logic; many, in 
calculation and shrewdness of judgment; many, in purity 
and finish of diction : but in that general excellence and 
complete harmony of faculties which unify body and mind, 
on a lofty scale, he had no peer. It is that balance, allow- 
ing the most free and perfect play of the faculties, which 
produces the subtle attribute of personal magnetism ; and 
no more striking instance of it is found in history than 
that exhibited by Henry Clay. He was entirely devoid of 
pettiness and vanity; he was of too large and strong a 
mould to be in any way cheap. Long before the age of 
fifty, and when the most brilliant part of his career was yet 
to come, his experience in the highest realm of public af- 
fairs had destroyed all sense of novelty in his situation and 
that self -consciousness which attends the assumption of 
power; his habit of mind had become that of the states- 
man and party chieftain. His greatest defect of manner was 
•» his involuntary assumption of authority when his views met 
with opposition ; at such times he inclined to be dictatorial, 
not with coarse arrogance, but with lofty and courtly assur- 
ance. 1 Yet he would have been more than human if, with 



1 From the many sources whence this description is derived, the follow- 
ing should be cited : Martineau's Retrospect of Western Travel, vol. i. pp. 
172, 176; Hilliard's Politics and Pen Pictures, p. 3; Greeley's Recollections 
of a Busy Life, p. 250 ; Parton's Greeley, p. 166 ; Parton's Famous Ameri- 



123 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

his peculiar and wonderful abilities and fascinating hold on 
his adherents, he had been otherwise in this regard. The 
growth of his personal influence doubtless had much to dc , 
with developing this temper of mind, and it is not unlikeb £ 
that it tended to his gradual adoption of the Federaliso- 
creed, which was soon to become the basis of the Whi t » 
party, of which Clay, from its origin to his death, was the 
foremost figure and lawgiver. It was to the formation of 
this new party that his efforts were at once devoted after 
the election of Jackson. At the head of it he designed to 
contest the field with Jackson in 1832. ' 



cans, p. 11 ; Pierce's Sumner, vol. i. p. 316; Wiuthrop's Addresses, vol. iv. pp. 
59,60 ; Thurlow Weed's Autobiography, vol. i. pp. 181, 207 ; Reminiscences 
of B. P. Poore, vol. i. p. 85; Appleton's Encyclopedia of American Biography, 
article "O. E. Dodge," vol. ii. p. 194; Democratic Revieic, vol. xii. p. 302; 
Century Magazine, vol. xxxiii. p. 179. 



CHAPTER IV 

The New Development and Arrangement of Political Forces — Andrew 
Jackson, and the Significance of his Political Rise — His First Adminis- 
tration — The Spoils System — The "Kitchen Cabinet" — Party Dissen- 
sion and Reorganization of the Cabinet — The Political Issues — Clay 
Nominated for President and Re-Elected to the Senate — The Political 
Activity of the Period — The Whig Programme — The Rejection of Van 
Buren's Nomination for Minister to England — Clay's Plan of Tariff 
Revision — His Defence of the American System — The Tariff of 1832 — 
The Public Lands — The Effort to Compromise Clay on the Subject — 
His Land Bill 

The time bad at length arrived for a regular and militant 
arrangement of political forces. The chaos of politics had 
reached the stage of crystallization. The preceding con- 
ditions had naturally led to it. It is easy to discern from 
the literature and characteristics of the period the changes 
that were coming over the public mind. The effects of the 
war and of the causes that produced it were becoming dis- 
tinctly visible. The steady expansion of wealth and popu- 
lation had begun strongly to manifest itself in the political 
thought and movement of the time. The disseminations 
of the press were constantly increasing in variety and vol- 
ume. The stream of politics was rapidly gathering in ex- 
panse and momentum from the new and numerous tribu- 
taries of private interest ; it was becoming a wide and 
turbulent current, and even to many thoughtful observers 
who did not perceive the true meaning of the phenomena, 
it threatened calamity to our national character and insti- 
tutions. 



124 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

In all nations and all times, politics, whatever the kind or 
quality, is primarily the avenue to personal advantage. 
Whether it be in the seemingly petty strifes for court fa- 
vors or the greater struggles of able statesmen over policies 
that affect the world, personal ambition for power and 
position is the ruling motive ; desire for the national weal, 
how deep and genuine soever, is seldom paramount. But 
in nations whose concerns have weight and whose peoples 
have power, personal rivalries are forced to conform to the 
processes of party organization, which alone can press the 
discordant interests and elements that inevitably exist into 
orderly and efficient union. If adequate issues do not exist 
they are created ; for without them there can be no system- 
atic and seemly operations. All this is plain enough now ; 
but in 1S28 party warfare, in the full modern sense, was un- 
known in the United States. Necessity is the mother of 
political invention and progress. After 1828, system and 
intricacy speedily developed in our politics. The ensuing 
thirty years form the most interesting and remarkable 
period of our political annals. From a superficial and 
cynical point of view it was the struggle of ambitious 
ability, supported by the wealth and conservatism of the 
country, with pushing mediocrity, supported by the multi- 
tude and lighted up toward the last by the lurid glow of 
the antislavery agitation. 1 The most significant indication 
of the changing political temper of the times was the rise 
of Andrew Jackson. 



1 "In these Jacksonian contests we find nearly all the learning, nearly 
all the ancient wealth, nearly all the book-nourished intelligence, nearly all 
the silver-forked civilization, united in opposition to General Jackson, who 
represented the country's untutored instincts." — Parton's Jackson, vol. iii. 
p. 150. 



Ch. IV.] THE COMING OF JACKSON 125 

Concerning Jackson there is an antipodal difference of 
opinion, both extremes being equally wrong, owing to par- 
tisan prejudices, without critical understanding of his career 
and the general causes that made it possible. There should, 
however, be little disagreement as to either, for the histori- 
cal quality of both is easily ascertained. 

To say that Jackson's political career was the product of 
circumstances would not be strictly accurate, yet it is more 
nearly so than is usually supposed. It is of course true, in 
a general sense, that every distinguished career is prox- 
imately due to circumstances ; but in most cases the reputa- 
tions acquired by men of superior abilit}?- are only modified 
or colored by their surroundings. It is altogether probable 
that had Shakespeare, Newton, and Burke lived in other 
ages than those which they adorn, their great powers would 
in some way have been conspicuously displayed. So also 
would it have been with Franklin, Hamilton, and Clay ; 
but not with Jackson. His eminence was the consequence 
of his being the chance instrument by which the forces 
that had been long in gathering were to assert themselves. 
Undoubtedly no other man w r ould have done exactly, or 
perhaps even approximately, as he did ; yet certainly the 
general results of the period would have been practically 
the same. His potent personality, indeed, singularly adapt- 
ed him to the conditions, but he affected rather the hue than 
the texture of the political fabric. 

Most of the men who attained authority in the early 
settlement of the West were untutored, restless, and dar- 
ing. The new communities were chiefly composed of these 
semi - barbarians, who naturally gravitated to the pioneer 
regions, which were constant scenes of Indian depreda- 
tions ?«,nd ruffianly melees. One of the incentives to this 



126 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

early immigration was the conditions that always exist 
where the restraint of law is lax. The populations being 
small and scattered, the man who possessed the common 
character, along with pronounced capacity, at once became 
prominent. If Jackson was not precisely of this class, it 
was thoroughly congenial to him. 

His parents — who were of the humblest station of life — 
came to this country from the North of Ireland in 1765. 
Andrew was born two years later. His father died at about 
the same time, in poverty. Until his mother's death, when 
he was fourteen, he lived most of the time with an uncle. 
He worked for some three or four years at the saddlery 
trade, and then began to read law at Salisbury, North Car- 
olina, not far from the place in which he had always lived. 
But he was neither by turn of mind nor application / a 
student, and much of the time that should have been de- 
voted to preparation for the bar was given up to the ex- 
citing and boisterous sports of the neighborhood. Accord- 
ing to an old resident of the place, who informed Parton, 
young Jackson " was the most roaring, rollicking, game- 
cocking, horse-racing, card-playing, mischievous fellow that 
ever lived in Salisbury." From the scanty accounts of 
this period of his life, we learn that the most marked tal- 
ent he exhibited was his power of profanity, which for 
originality, variety, and violence was unsurpassed by any 
of his contemporaries. He developed the faculty of fe- 
rocity to such a degree that it became with him an art 
which he employed as one of his principal weapons, albeit, 
on most occasions, he had little need of simulation — for his 
natural temper was terrible and overpowering. 1 



1 Parton's Jackson, vol. i. pp. 64, 463. 



Ch. IV.] JACKSON'S POLITICAL PROGRESS 127 

In 1788 one of his friends was appointed Superior Court 
judge of the district of Tennessee, and Jackson, then twenty- 
one, was appointed prosecuting attorney. There was no 
difficulty in procuring the post, for its functions were ex- 
tremely dangerous and undesirable. If knowledge of the 
law had been the first requisite, Jackson probably would 
not have presumed to seek the place. The qualifications 
demanded were fierce resolution, dauntless courage, and 
the power of terrorizing the lawless elements of the border. 
An idea of Jackson's native spirit of fearless independence 
may be drawn from an incident that happened when he 
was a lad. He boldly, and doubtless insolently, refused to 
clean the boots of one of Tarleton's troopers, who several 
times raided the region, and for his refusal received a sabre- 
cut on the head that left for life an ugly scar. The 
promise of the youth was amply fulfilled by the man. It 
sufficiently illustrates his character to say, without recount- 
ing the many belligerent and bloody affairs during his 
service, that he proved himself the man for the place ; he 
used process and pistols with equal readiness and facility. 
ISTor was he long in acquiring the lion's share of such civil 
business as there was in the primitive town of Nashville 
and the neighboring country. 

After eight years of this sort of life he had gained an 
influential standing. He was a member of the convention 
in 1796 that framed the original constitution for the new 
commonwealth, and was elected its first Representative in 
Congress. He served in that capacity for a year, and was 
then appointed to fill a vacancy caused by the expulsion 
from the Senate of one of the Tennessee members. His 
appearance, dress, and deportment were uncouth. Gallatin 
described him as a "rough backwoodsman"; and Jeffer- 



128 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

son said of him that " he could never speak on account of 
the rashness of his feelings ; that he had seen him attempt 
it repeatedly and as often choke with rage." ' His appoint- 
ment to the Senate was largely in recognition of his suc- 
cess in securing the passage of a bill to reimburse his State 
for expenses it had incurred in warfare with the savages, a 
subject of much complaint on the frontier because of the in- 
difference of the federal government. His legislative ser- 
vice was subsequently remembered only by his having voted 
with eleven others against the laudatory address to Wash- 
ington at the close of his Presidency. Jackson shared in- 
tensely in the prevailing Western friendliness for French 
democracy and hostility to Federalism, and the small part 
he took in the proceedings of Congress was governed by 
these sentiments. He remained in the Senate only a year, 
withdrawing in 1798, to become a Supreme Court judge in 
Tennessee. 

It is evident that during this period he was quite without 
political ambition and wholly without the qualifications to 
rise in politics in the ordinary Avay. His service as judge 
suggests the conclusion that he was equally without jurid- 
ical ambition. He held the judgeship six years, and then 
resigned. Beyond this nothing is known about his judicial 



1 Jefferson further said of him: "I feel very much alarmed at the 
prospect of seeing General Jackson President. He is one of the most unfit 
men I know for the place. He has had very little respect for laws or 
constitutions, and is, in fact, an able military chief. His passions are 
terrible. ... He has been much tried since I knew him, but he is a 
dangerous man." — Webster's Correspondence, vol. i. p. 346. "When, in 
1818, Monroe asked Jefferson whether it would be wise to give Jackson 
the mission to Russia Jefferson exclaimed : "Why, good God, he would, 
breed you a quarrel before he had been there a month !" — JViles's Register, 
vol. xxiv. p. 280. Jackson was offered and declined the mission to 
Mexico in 1823. 



Ch. IV.] QUALIFICATIONS OF FRONTIER JUDGES 129 

service, either as to the amount and kind of business in 
his court or the manner in which he despatched it. None 
of his decisions, if he wrote any, were preserved ; but it is 
probable that he wrote none, for his letters during this 
time were crudely composed, and it would have been char- 
acteristic of him to dispose of all questions before him 
summarily, according to the view he took of them at the 
time. His mind was so unjudicial that the incongruity of 
his being a judge would be amusing were it not for the 
probability that, however else his conduct may have ap- 
peared, it was never amusing to suitors and criminals in 
his court. Still, there was not much need of learning and 
refinement in the tribunals of the frontier, and it may fairly 
be presumed that Jackson's directness and knowledge of 
the people rendered his service efficient. Under the con- 
ditions of the time and place judicial fitness, in the proper 
sense, had little to do with judicial appointments. The 
idea was not present. This is strikingly shown by the cir- 
cumstance that while Jackson was judge he was elected 
major-general of the militia after a sharp and close contest 
with ex-Governor Sevier, the most prominent man in the 
State. No doubt the pecuniary compensation — six hundred 
dollars per year — was the controlling motive for Jackson's 
going upon the bench ; and that he desired the position 
was sufficient reason for his obtaining it. 

He retired from the bench in 1S0-A. He was in embar- 
rassed circumstances. He had been concerned in trade and 
land speculations which had proven unsuccessful. To re- 
pair his misfortunes, he abandoned the law and devoted 
several years to various business enterprises, 1 but at length 

1 Jackson was charged with having been in early life a dealer in slaves. 
" This charge was strictly true, though abundantly disproved by the oaths 



130 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

confined his attention to planting. During this interval 
of private occupation he evinced the same violent and 
undisciplined traits which had characterized his previous 
course. He was usually involved in quarrels and personal 
difficulties. In 1806 he fought a duel in which he killed 
his opponent and barely escaped death himself; the ball 
that struck him broke two ribs, and was thus deflected 
from its mortal errand. For a time he was engaged in 
boat-building; and in 1805 he contracted to provide Burr 
with boats for his uncertain project. He took a conspicu- 
ous share in lionizing Burr at the outset, and was loath to 
believe him guilty of any unlawful design. He vacillated 
somewhat, but finally appeared during the trial at Rich- 
mond as one of Burr's most zealous champions. He went 
so far as to deliver a foaming harangue against Jefferson. 
Spleen was the principal cause of his conduct. He disliked 
Jefferson because he had refused to appoint him governor 
of the Orleans territory; and Burr's chief accuser, the 
shallow and unprincipled Wilkinson, who commanded there, 
he loathed. 

At the outbreak of the war with England, Jackson had 
passed his forty-fifth year. He had withdrawn from poli- 
tics, if his brief Congressional experience could be called 
political; he had tired of the judgeship, if his position could 
be called judicial ; he had forsaken his profession, if his 
practice could be called professional. His business vent- 
ures had been futile. "Nothing really prospered with 



of some, and even by the certificate of his principal partner. Jackson had 
a small store or trading establishment at Bruinsburgh, near the mouth of 
the Bayou Pierre, in Claiborne county, Mississippi. It was at this point 
he received the negroes, purchased by his partner at Nashville, and sold 
them to the planters of the neighborhood." — Sparks's Memories of Fifty 
Tears, p. 149. 



Ch. IV.] JACKSON AND THE WAR DEPARTMENT 131 

him," sa} 7 s Partem, "but his farm and his horses, both of 
which he loved, and therefore understood." He was merely 
a planter and a militia general. He had achieved nothing to 
distinguish him from the numberless and forgotten legion of 
the sometime prominent; or, if he escaped oblivion, it would 
be in consequence of his connection with Burr. If he had 
ever had any but military ambition, which is doubtful, it 
must have subsided. His hopes, whatever they had been, had 
reached their compass of satisfaction. His character had 
hardened in its original mould. Beyond question, without 
war he would have continued in the same course as that 
which he had pursued during the six years preceding. But 
the war came, and he instinctively embraced the belated 
opportunity of his life. lie forthwith offered himself and 
his division of the Tennessee militia to the service of the 
government. 

It was supposed that the British would at once attack 
New Orleans. In due time Jackson assembled his forces at 
Natchez. But when it appeared that no attempt would be 
made against New Orleans he was ordered by the "War De- 
partment to disband, without any provision being made to 
pay, ration, and return his men, who were five hundred miles 
from home. Jackson was furious. Instead of obeying his 
orders, he marched the division in regular form back to Ten- 
nessee, pledging his own credit to secure the auxiliary trans- 
portation. His drafts went to protest, and he would have 
been financially ruined had not the great popularity of his 
conduct compelled the administration, as a matter of politics, 
to rectify the wrong or oversight it had committed. Still 
full of warlike ardor, he again tendered his forces to the 
government for an invasion of Canada ; for " Old Hickory," 
as he was now familiarly styled, was idolized by his men 



132 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

for his fierce and soldierly devotion to their interests. His 
offer was ignored, and he dismissed the troops. During 
this episode his pugnacious propensity was not diverted 
from his private affairs. "While at Natchez he had a violent 
dissension with General Wilkinson over a question of rank, 
and after returning to Nashville he started a barbarous 
affray with Colonel Coffee and the Bentons that almost cost 
him his life. Weapons were freely used, and in the melee 
Jackson received a terrible wound in the shoulder from 
which he never fully recovered. 1 

Meantime the Creek war had broken out in the Mississippi 
territory. To Jackson this was a most fortunate circum- 
stance : it continued his military career. While yet unable 
to quit his bed on account of his wound, he recalled his dis- 
banded volunteers to service, and obtained authority from 
the legislature to proceed. As soon as he was able, he ad- 
vanced, though with great physical suffering, into the Indian 
country. The ensuing campaign was thoroughly Jackson- 
esque. The hinderances he encountered were numerous and 
embarrassing. He was not in supreme command, and was 
therefore impeded by other officers until he acquired the 
ascendency to guide the operations to suit himself. The 
troops were ill provided with food and munitions, and most 
of them were on short enlistments. Several times some of 
them were in open mutiny. On one occasion, when some of 
the men proposed to march homeward, Jackson seized a 
musket and, standing before them, said he would shoot the 



1 " It was quite a curious coincidence that on one of these fine mornings 
when Colonel Benton was so fiercely battling for the President in the 
Senate Chamber the President had to submit to a surgical operation for 
the extraction of the bullet he had carried in his left arm ever since the 
time of the Benton affray in Nashville, twenty years before." — Parton's 
Jackson, vol. iii. p. 415. 



Ch. IV.] THE CAUSE OF THE SEMINOLE WAR 133 

first man who refused to perform his duty. During these 
troubles he committed acts that subsequently received severe 
criticism. Among them was the arrest of General Cocke, 
professedly for inciting his division to mutiny, but really to 
remove a jealous and inefficient officer. He also caused a 
private to be shot for insubordination, not so much that the 
man deserved it as to make an example of him. But with 
appalling energy and celerity, as well as skilful management 
of his wayward troops, which showed a truly high order of 
combative military genius, he surmounted all obstacles and 
forever broke the warlike power of the Creeks. He afterward 
wrested from the friendly part of the tribe — for the hostiles 
had fled — the treaty that Clay stigmatized as the real origin 
of the Seminole war. However this may be, the so-called 
treaty was a cruel extortion ; and, strictly considered, it was 
illegal, as not more than one-third of the entire tribe was 
represented by the signers. It compelled them to surrender 
two-thirds of their lands as an indemnity for the expense of 
the war ; and, besides other severe exactions, it required th' m 
to retire to the unrelinquished tract, which was so located 
as to isolate them from all external influences that might 
incite them to future war. 

The campaign was finished in April, 1814, and the militia 
discharged ; but so considerable was the service Jackson had 
performed that in May he was commissioned a major-general 
in the regular army and placed in command of the Southern 
Department. He fixed his headquarters at Mobile, whither 
he proceeded in August. Until a short time before this no 
British force had appeared during the year in the Gulf 
region. A small number had then arrived at Pensacola in 
several sloops-of-war. The purpose was to stir up the Flor- 
ida Indians and divert attention from New Orleans, against 



134 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

which the long-delayed expedition was now being prepared. 
Of this, however, Jackson then had no intimation, nor did 
he even surmise it. 

The Spanish occupation of Florida was obnoxious to the 
people of the Southwest, whose old hatred of Spain, occa- 
sioned by the troubles over the navigation of the Mississippi, 
was intensified through the unhindered use of Florida by 
the savages and the English. Thus the principal and popu- 
lar object that Jackson desired to achieve was to take forci- 
ble possession of the territory. This was his prime motive 
at the outset of his military career, and it continued to be 
until he finally succeeded in his purpose during the Seminole 
war. "When he first offered himself and his volunteers for 
service, in 1813, he assured the Secretary of War that they 
were " the choicest of our citizens, . . . who have no con- 
stitutional scruples, and, if the government orders, will re- 
joice at the opportunity of placing the American eagle on 
the ramparts of Mobile, Pensacola, and St. Augustine." 
tbjst before the British appeared at Pensacola Jackson 
wrote for leave to seize the place. For some reason the 
despatch denying his request did not reach him until long 
afterward. Meanwhile a naval attack was made on Fort 
Bowyer, at Mobile Point. This was thoroughly repulsed, if, 
indeed, it was intended to be more than a demonstration, 
and the enemy returned to Pensacola. In the absence of 
orders, Jackson pursued his own course. Two weeks later 
he marched over the border with 4100 men, nearly all his 
forces. November 7 he took Pensacola without resistance. 
The British had retired to the Appalachicola : their main 
function was performed. Jackson left one thousand men in 
Florida and returned to Mobile, where he remained several 
days. He then proceeded leisurely to New Orleans with 



Ch. IV.] JACKSON AT NEW ORLEANS 135 

only part of his army. He was regardless of the impending 
danger, of which he had now been warned from Wash- 
ington. 

He reached the city December 2. Already the British 
expedition, fifty sail, had been for a week under way from 
its rendezvous at Jamaica. Before Jackson arrived nothing 
had been done for the defence of the city ; and after he 
came he made no haste to improve its condition. He was 
ill. His forces were scattered. The authorities were heed- 
less. In the place there were no arms and no military 
stores. Jackson's conduct thus far betrays an astonishing 
ignorance of the science of war. Mobile, in any case, was 
not worth the trouble he had taken ; without New Orleans 
it was totally worthless. In fact, it would have been stra- 
tegic so to fortifjr New Orleans and its approaches that the 
British would be induced to land at Mobile and then ad- 
vance through the wilderness. Had this been done the in- 
vading army might have suffered the experience of Brad- 
dock sixty years before. December 10 the fleet was sighted ; 
within a week our gunboats had been taken; by another 
week, the enemy had approached within seven miles of the 
city. Jackson's remissness was more glaring than that of 
any other of the generals whose inefficiency had rendered the 
war inglorious and abortive. His whole power was in his 
genius for combat. It was only when an enemy or an op- 
position was visible that his unquestioning and tremendous 
energy appeared. So abnormal was this attribute that it 
diminished prudence, calculation, and judgment. His po- 
tent characteristic now came to the rescue. He assumed 
military dictatorship, made resounding proclamations, and 
filled the torpid populace with enthusiastic vigor. Aided 
by Packenham's bad generalship, he was victorious. The 



136 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

treaty of Ghent, signed fifteen days before the final assault, 
prevented further hostilities, except the capture of Mobile 
Point. How Jackson would have fared in the field had the 
war continued can only be conjectured. As it was, he was 
the " Hero of New Orleans." His success, even less brilliant 
than it was surprising to the nation, which expected his 
overthrow, gave him that prestige which was soon to be 
exploited in the service of politics. It was this alone that 
saved him from condemnation for his rash conduct in the 
Seminole war and his short governorship of Florida, to say 
naught of the many violent acts and quarrels that would 
have disgraced and destroyed any other man. 

Such are the outlines of Jackson's history before he be- 
came a Presidential candidate. About it there is no room 
for material disagreement. The leading facts depict his 
character as clearly as a few skilful strokes portray a visage. 
His military career was the compound of that character and 
remarkable chance. It was his good fortune that the Creek 
war broke out just at the time it did ; that New Orleans 
was not taken before he could defend it ; that the war had 
been a disheartening failure nearly everywhere else and 
ended with his victory. That he should attain political 
popularity and power invincible against an opposition un- 
paralleled in our history for the elements it included and 
the ability of its leaders, would be inconceivable apart from 
a political movement so deep and general as to make it a 
matter of minor consequence who its representative might 
be. But Jackson's peculiar character and achievements 
doubtless hastened the supremacy of that democratic sen- 
timent which was to overwhelm all barriers and carry him 
on its crest. 

Broadly speaking, the political institutions of a country 



Ch. IV.] THE GENESIS OF THE REPUBLIC 137 

are the reflection of the theory prevailing among its people. 
That theory is necessarily influenced by old associations and 
the degree of intelligence and independence diffused among 
the masses. In a general sense, the form of any government 
has but little to do intrinsically for a long period with the 
larger popular rights. The same principle is discovered in 
the vicissitudes of political parties under the freest republi- 
can constitutions. In the nature of things, the long reten- 
tion of power by a party tends to develop an increasing dis- 
regard of the views of the minority touching particular 
questions. But the fundamental character of a government 
is not radically affected by mere politics ; in legislation and 
administration, errors and excesses are quite certain to be 
eventually rebuked and corrected by popular revulsion. 
This causes that oscillation from and to its fundamental 
tenets which has marked the history of every political party 
that has survived a decisive defeat. Every sustained de- 
parture from the true theory of republics — non-interference 
with private rights — sooner or later begets a popular revolt 
and a return to democratic principles. To understand the 
events of our political history, these elementary truths must 
be applied in the same manner as the first rules of arith- 
metic to all mathematical calculations. 

Prior to the adoption of the Constitution, the United 
States could scarcely be called a nation. Each of the States 
in the fragile confederation was but a fragment of a pro- 
spective nation ; for had not the general Union been formed, 
it is quite certain that sectional ones would. The confeder- 
ation was vitally incompetent to produce nationality either 
in sentiment or in power, although it performed a momen- 
tous service in staying the centrifugal jealousies that must 
otherwise have resulted in several republics, or, what was 



138 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

not altogether improbable, a consolidated monarchy. Dur- 
ing this stage the "rights of man" were freely proclaimed ; 
yet the idea of democracy was singularly incomplete. 
The generation that achieved our independence had been 
subjects of a king of whom they had once spoken with re- 
gard as " His Majesty." In dress, customs, respect for 
class and government, they were still Englishmen. It mat- 
tered not that political relations were severed ; the old 
habits of thought and feeling continued of their own mo- 
mentum. Thus comparatively but a small number of the 
people were immediately affected in any marked degree, so 
far as political ideas were concerned, by the success of the 
Revolution ; nor could they be materially changed except 
by a gradual and necessary adaptation to the new condi- 
tions arising from the practice of self-government. It is 
well known that after the confederation had proven a fail- 
ure there was a strong monarchical sentiment — not that 
monarchy was deliberately preferred by many to a republic, 
but that the latter was a hazardous experiment, while 
limited monarchy was understood and familiar. It is 
equally well known that Hamilton, the chief founder of 
the Federalist creed, earnestly favored monarchy before the 
adoption of the Constitution, and afterward bent his great 
abilities to make the government so powerful as to be re- 
garded for itself alone instead of being merely the organ 
of administering the will of the people in affairs strictly 
national. 

It has been said with much wit and some truth that at 
Washington's inauguration the government consisted of 
himself and a roll of parchment. To distend the implied 
powers granted by that instrument until they were practical- 
ly commensurate with the discretion of Congress was the 



Ch. IV.] THE STRUGGLE FOR DEMOCRACY 139 

policy of the Federalists ; and it was enforced with such 
vigor, as we have seen, that it brought about the demo- 
cratic reaction which overthrew that party. Nevertheless, 
after the popular success of Jefferson's principles the earlier 
ideas and impulses still continued. "No person," says Mac- 
Master, "could, in 1803, look over our country without be- 
holding on every hand the lingering remains of monarchy, of 
aristocracy, of class rule." Notwithstanding the fact that the 
Revolution was principally caused by the imposition of taxa- 
tion without representation, for a long time subsequently, in 
nearly every State, the right of suffrage was dependent upon 
property qualifications. It is not surprising, therefore, that 
Jefferson's principles proved to be in the main merely ab- 
stractions, and that the Republican party soon applied the 
Federalist theory with far greater effect than the Federalists 
had ever presumed to do. Still, the democratic doctrine 
was promulgated as a general creed, and the people began 
to appreciate and exert their power, though it was not until 
1821 that popular sentiment gave promise of becoming the 
controlling factor in political affairs. The elections of 
Madison and Monroe were not the results of popular move- 
ments for their elevation, but chiefly of a custom that alone 
almost dominated the succession. The war and the events 
that gave rise to it arrested the progress of the democratic 
sentiment. For the same reasons the necessities that fol- 
lowed had much the same, though steadily diminishing 
effect. But by the time of the Presidential election of 1821 
that influence had gained sufficient force to prevent mere 
precedent or political machinery from determining the re- 
sult. Under these circumstances it was natural that the 
popular movement should gather about some personage 
who aroused popular admiration, and without much re- 



140 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

gard to mere politics. Such a personage was General 
Jackson. 

But the underlying cause of Jackson's political success 
was not recognized by his opponents. To such men as 
Clay, Calhoun, Webster, and their admirers and adherents, 
Jackson's candidacy was at first absurd and then outra- 
geous. In their view his election was contrary to the best 
traditions of the republic, inconsistent with respectable 
government, and boded social and political calamity. They 
ascribed his elevation solely to his military exploits, and de- 
plored it as the dangerous ascendency of a military chief- 
tain destitute of civic qualifications. They seemed not to 
consider the fact fully that his rise was not due to a sudden 
and spontaneous popular desire to reward a military hero, but 
was slowly compassed by dexterous management operating 
on the new conditions ; and that his chief counsellors were 
men of sagacity and ability. Their want of insight into 
the true meaning of his success led them into fatal errors 
of judgment in their policy of opposition. They did not 
wait for Jackson to exhibit the alarming unfitness they 
proclaimed, but forthwith imitated the example that Jack- 
son's promoters had set when Adams was elected. They 
augured evil and disaster before any threatened, and ulti- 
mately adopted the tactics of forcing Jackson into the 
course they regarded as the most advantageous to them- 
selves to condemn. Nearly every cause he gave for censure 
during his Presidency was thus induced ; yet for the most 
part the policy he was compelled to pursue deserves greater 
credit than belongs to that of the opposition. 

The general condition of the country was prosperous. 
The Southern and Western States were being developed 
with marvellous rapidity, to the corresponding benefit of 



Ch. IV.] THE POPULAR ESTIMATE OF JACKSON 141 

the other sections. At no period of our history have the 
people been so individualized as during that which had 
now begun. The democratic awakening was as thorough as 
it had finally been rapid. In the popular mind Jackson's 
mission was to infuse the democratic spirit into the admin- 
istration of the government. The prevailing and potential 
idea of Jackson was that he was " of and for the people," 
and it was prodigiously aided by the criticism that he was 
without training, and on that account barbarously unfit for 
President. ISTor was the popular notion of him wrong. He 
was thoroughly homespun. Despite his martial bearing 
and the belligerent vigor of his administration, he was ac- 
cessible and unaffected. To all but his declared enemies he 
was sincerely cordial and winning. 1 His advanced age and 
later experience had subdued and improved his manner. 
He was in all things entirely direct; and such a man is 
necessarily free from cant and pretension. As during his 
previous career, he seemed without strong personal am- 
bition, and his ferocious energy after he entered the contest 
was far more the consequence of his pugnacious tempera- 
ment than of his desire for the honor of being elected. 
During his Presidency the same assertive self-reliance 
which had always characterized him still governed his con- 
duct. In this he displayed one of the prime elements of 



« "After dinner we went to the President's ; the rooms were all filled, 
and the company consisted, as usual, of all varieties of rank and station- 
foreign ministers and shopkeepers, heads of departments and dressers of 
heads, Senators and office -hunters. The President was sociable and 
courteous, and the ladies of his family performed their parts with great 
propriety; on the whole, it was an affair not to be missed."— Hone's Diary, 
March 15, 1832, vol. i. p. 48. Webster wrote in 1824: " GeneralJack- 
son's manners are more Presidential than those of any of the candidates. 
He is grave, mild, and subdued. My wife is for him decidedly." — Webster's 
Correspondence, p. 3-46. 



142 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

superiority. Intrinsically there is little difference between 
a so-called great question and a small one. What renders 
the one more onerous and apparently more difficult is usual- 
ly the wider and weightier importance of its consequences. 
Generally an imposing public question admits of an easier 
solution than a private one, because it is amenable to the 
science of political economy. A strong mind operates un- 
awed by the magnitude of results. Jackson, with the same 
freedom as though he were deciding which fields of his 
farm should be ploughed, simply applied his common-sense, 
so far as he could, with his acute personal prejudices, to the 
various subjects that arose or were forced upon him. No 
one thought him venal, and few thought he had any moral 
obliquity. Hence, however violent and vindictive he might 
be, a large majority of the people believed him honest and 
well meaning ; and his dreadful independence, directness, 
and force prompted them equally to believe that he fully 
understood what he was about and was sufficiently right in 
his course. 

The first feature that signalized his administration was 
the establishment of what is familiarly known as the 
"spoils system." As this subject is still one of living in- 
terest, Jackson is persistently and vehemently criticised for 
his course ; and any approval or disapproval of it is taking 
side in a present and pressing controversy. Nevertheless, 
an accurate estimate of Jackson and his period is quite im- 
possible without a critical consideration of the causes that 
led to the introduction of the practice of removals from the 
inferior public offices for political reasons. 

Most of the evils that afflict republics are caused by the 
lack of sustained interest in political affairs among the 
larger part of the people. The vicious and incompetent 



Ch. IV.] THE SPOILS SYSTEM 143 

would seldom be elected to office if the intelligent and 
right-minded had a proper sense of citizenship and duty 
toward their political institutions. Their sins of omission 
surpass those of commission by the ignorant and unfit, who 
are thus permitted to work themselves into public posi- 
tions. If the mooted topic of " civil service reform " were 
a legal one, the doctrine of estoppel would to some extent 
apply. But, as it is, the public administrative business is 
performed, with comparatively few exceptions, with hon- 
esty and reasonable competency. Those who have most 
occasion to transact business, or to observe the manner of 
its transaction in the public offices, find the least substantial 
cause for criticism. The man is rare, in all the grades of 
the public service which it is contended should be placed 
beyond the reach of partisan appointment, who is not actu- 
ated by a decent desire to perform his duties properly. It 
is safe to say that there is more proud loyalty to duty on 
the part of the mass of such office-holders than there is to 
their employers among the mass of men in private occupa- 
tions. In the nature of the case, it is impossible that the 
immense and diversified public business should be conducted 
with the same economy as an ordinary private business. Its 
orderly and systematic despatch necessitates division and 
subdivision of functions. But this enables clerks and other 
similar subordinates to become quickly familiar with their 
narrow scope of duty. And the fact that the integrity of 
those classes is, as a rule, entirely untempted by opportunity 
goes far to insure the efficiency of the service. " Civil service 
reform," therefore, has no financial aspect aside from ob- 
taining an adequate return of work for the salaries paid ; 
and even if it could effect any substantial result in this re- 
spect, which is doubtful, the cost of attaining it would more 



144 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1829 

than offset the saving. The serious injury to the public is 
not perpetrated by the dishonesty and incompetency of the 
lesser servants, but by those whose opportunity is be- 
stowed, directly or indirectly, by the ballot. One year of 
vicious financial or economic policy instituted by an igno- 
rant or wilful majority of Congress exceeds, as a plague ex- 
ceeds the common ills, a century of petty evils in subordi- 
nate administration. Besides these considerations, a force 
which is not subject to removal almost inevitably becomes 
more or less self-sufficient and insubordinate. And the 
same principle supplies, in a wider application, the para- 
mount argument why there should not be established under 
our institutions a great class practically secure for life of 
official position and dependency on the government. The 
genius of our institutions is the equality of opportunity to 
all the people. So long as the routine business of govern- 
ment can be performed with reasonable efficienc} 7 without 
special training or prolonged experience, the greater the 
number of those who gain, if only a brief, acquaintance 
with official duties the better; for it is in some sense a 
means of education in popular government, which in the 
largest degree possible should be of the people, by the peo- 
ple, and for the people. 

Such is the true argument in behalf of the spoils system. 
That it is inherently susceptible of abuses is undeniable ; yet 
bad appointments in consequence of the practice in this 
country have never been alone sufficient to warrant its over- 
throw. The most serious evil it produces is its effect on 
political activity. It renders partisan service subordinate 
to the public welfare, and thus tends to make party contest 
a venal quest for office instead of a sincere and elevated con- 
tention over large questions of political principle and pub- 



Ch. IV.] SPREAD OF THE SPOILS SYSTEM 145 

lie policy, with the effect of aiding mediocre and unfit men 
to push themselves into public life. Doubtless the better 
opinion on the whole case is that the competitive system 
with fixed tenure — treating the civil service as merely the 
mechanical means of administration — is wiser and more pro- 
ductive, in a large sense, of the best results. Yet the rise 
and long continuance of the opposite practice was inevi- 
table, and must be regarded as a natural outgrowth of our 
political system. This view reconciles theory and fact, and 
tempers acute prejudices that are detrimental to just histori- 
cal judgment. 

For many years the total number of appointees to the 
minor offices under the government of the United States 
was less than the number now appointed under that of New 
York or Pennsylvania. There was no urgent and general 
rivalry for such positions. But at length the increase of the 
population, with all that it signifies, and the correspond- 
ing expansion of the business of the government, naturally 
attracted the attention of the constantly increasing class 
desiring employment that was not manual. Politics was 
inevitably affected by its influence. But it was first felt 
in State politics, especially in the two States mentioned 
and in Massachusetts, where the "spoils system" speedily 
developed, not indeed through the instrumentality of party, 
but as the consequence of changing conditions. 

From the time of the administration of Jefferson to that 
of Adams there had been little occasion to make removals 
for political reasons. For twenty-four years there had been 
but one Presidential dynasty. The opposition being at no 
time sufficiently strong and coherent to deserve the title of 
party, there was no opportunity for the office-seeking class 

to develop in the national arena; there was nothing upon 

10 



146 THE JACKSONIAF EPOCH [1829 

which to found claims as the reward for services, and, if 
there had been, those installed we:'e mainly the faithful. 
Moreover, it necessarily required some time for the system 
being rapidly established in the several States to appear in 
national politics ; but in those States eventually the number- 
less influences that produced a new political epoch operated 
perforce to evoke efforts that would secure the minor ap- 
pointments as the reward for partisan zeal. "While Jackson's 
administration marked the beginning of this element of party 
organization in national politics, any other man at that time 
representing the Democratic. party would have pursued sub- 
stantially the same course. In truth, it would be more ac- 
curate to say that John Quincy Adams was the proximate 
cause of the system ; for his absolute refusal to allow polit- 
ical considerations to influence the retention or selection 
of appointees stimulated the clamor and the efforts of the 
multiplying " outs." But though the situation had rendered 
proscription inevitable, Jackson was not reluctant to en- 
force it. In this, as in all he did, he proceeded with vigor 
and celerity. During the first year of his Presidency he 
made as many removals for political reasons as had been ef- 
fected by all his predecessors, mostly for cause; and, besides, 
there was the still greater number made by heads of depart- 
ments and the like. 1 This policy was greeted by a loud 



'"'The gloom of suspicion,' says Mr. Stansbury, himself an office- 
holder, 'pervaded the face of society. No man deemed it safe or prudent 
to trust his neighbor, and the interior of the Department presented a fearful 
scene of guarded silence, secret intrigue, espionage, and tale-bearing. A 
casual remark dropped on the street would within an hour be repeated at 
headquarters ; and many a man received unceremonious dismission who 
could not for his life conceive or conjecture wherein he had offended.'" 
"So numerous were the removals in the city of Washington that the busi-' 
ness of the place seemed paralyzed." — Parton's Jackson, vol. iii. pp. 212, 
214. See also Shepard's Van Buren, p. 180. 



Ch. IV.] THE " KITCHEN CABINET " 147 

chorus of denunciation and direful prophecy ; and by no one 
with such latitude of indignant phrase as by Clay, notwith- 
standing he had been much disappointed by the attitude 
Adams had taken in regard to the subject. 

Jackson took a novel view of the functions of the cabinet. 
In his hands it was shorn of much of the dignity it had 
before possessed. During previous administrations it was 
composed principally of distinguished men who influenced 
the policy of the government. Under Jackson the cabinet 
officers were no longer the " Constitutional advisers " of 
the President. He held no cabinet councils. The members 
practically resembled military staff-officers. "With the ex- 
ception of Van Buren, they were not men of conspicuous 
ability, although possessing much political experience. 
Jackson's actual advisers were confined to a small coterie of 
friends who, with one subsequent exception, were not in 
the cabinet. During the first years these advisers were 
William B. Lewis, 1 Amos Kendall, 2 Isaac Hill, and Duff 
Green. Green, however, because of his devotion to Cal- 
houn, was soon replaced by Francis P. Blair, one of Clay's 



1 " Among all the remarkable accidents which opened his way to the 
first position in the country it was not the least that he had William B. 
Lewis for a neighbor and friend. Lewis was the great father of wire-pull- 
ers." — Sumner's Jackson, p. 77. 

' 2 "He is supposed to be the moving spring of the whole administration — 
the thinker, planner, and doer ; but it is all in the dark. Documents are 
issued of an excellence whicli prevents their being attributed to the persons 
who take the responsibility of them ; a correspondence is kept up all over 
the country for which no one seems answerable ; work is done, of goblin 
extent and goblin speed, which makes men wonder ; and the invisible Amos 
Kendall has the credit of it all. ... He is undoubtedly a great genius. He 
unites with his 'great talent for silence' a splendid audacity. . . . The ex- 
treme sallowness of his complexion, and hair of such perfect whiteness as 
is rarely seen in a man of middle age, testify to disease. His countenance 
does not help the superstitious to throw off their dread of him." — 3Iar- 
tinea.u's Retrospect of Western Travel, vol. i. p. 155. 



r 



148 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1831 

former friends, who established the Globe, the organ of the 
administration. They had all been obscure men, but were 
clever writers and consummate politicians of the new school. 
They constituted the famous " Kitchen Cabinet." ' 

It Avas not until toward the close of his first term that 
Jackson furnished solid ground for the opposition. Soon 
after the beginning of his administratiqn a violent dissen- 
sion arose in his own party. It was occasioned by a ri- 
valry between Calhoun, Yice- President, and Van Buren, 
Secretary of State, each of whom sought to succeed Jackson 
in the Presidency. It began by a contest between them 
to strengthen their positions by means of patronage, and 
speedily reached a pass that wanted only small provoca- 
tion to cause open disruption. The provocation was soon 
supplied. 

John II. Eaton, Secretary of "War, and previously for ten 
years a Senator from Tennessee, had recently married Mrs. 
Timberlake, the widow of a purser in the navy who had 
committed suicide. She was the comely daughter of a 
"Washington tavern-keeper, and, as "Peggy O'Neil," had at 
one time enjoyed much popularity among the gallant fre- 
quenters of the capital. Before her husband's death Eaton 
had been more attentive to her than was good for her rep- 
utation. Under these circumstances the wives of the Vice- 
President and the cabinet officers refused to recognize her 
socially. Jackson, smarting under the recollection of the 
charges that his own matrimonial experience had occa- 



1 ' ' The General's misfortune is that his confidence is reposed in men in no 
degree equal to him in natural parts, but who have been of use to him here- 
tofore in covering his very lamentable defects of education ; and as he is 
very unwilling to make these defects known to any others, he is compelled 
to keep these gentlemen about him." — Reminiscences of J. A. Hamilton, 
p. 104. Concerning the "Kitchen Cabinet," see Sumner's Jackson, p. 142. 



Ch. IV.] REORGANIZATION" OF JACKSON'S CABINET 149 

sioned, strove to coerce the recognition of Mrs. Eaton. Even 
his own niece, who was mistress of the White House, re- 
fused to comply, and was sent back to Tennessee in conse- 
quence. As Van Buren was a widower he profited by the 
affair. 

This hastened the impending breach that other events 
served to increase. A circumstance hitherto concealed now 
came to light. It will be remembered that after the Florida 
campaign, Calhoun, then Secretary of War, favored the pro- 
posed censure of General Jackson, who was now apprised 
of the fact by a letter written by Crawford to one of Jack- 
son's friends. Jackson at once enclosed a copy of it to Cal- 
houn, with a request for an explanation ; but as there could 
be no explanation satisfactory to Jackson, open war between 
them was declared. Three members of the cabinet were 
partisans of Calhoun. A reorganization of it was, therefore, 
decided upon. To bring this about, Eaton set the example 
which it was desired the others should follow. He resigned, 
and was appointed governor of Florida. Van Buren imme- 
diately did likewise, and was sent as Minister to England. 
The obnoxious members were then disposed of, and a new 
cabinet was constructed. Such was the internal condition 
of the Democratic party on the eve of the campaign of 1832, 
in which it had been determined that Jackson was to be a 
candidate for re-election. 

By this time Jackson's policy had developed distinct out- 
lines. It gave Clay precisely the opportunity he most de- 
sired. Jackson was now hostile to the system of internal 
improvements, and to every sort of special legislation. 
While he was not strongly opposed to the policy of protec- 
tion, his inclinations were that way ; he assumed a neutral 
attitude that encouraged the South without alarming the 



150 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

North. 1 Inasmuch as the public debt was nearly paid, 
he favored such a revision of the tariff as would reduce 
the revenue without radically disturbing protected interests. 
Clay was thus driven to a policy far more extreme than he 
had ever before advocated. Bather than to imp;: ir protec- 
tion, he preferred to maintain the debt, and favored an elab- 
orate system of internal improvements, or, as an alterna- 
tive, to diminish the revenue by making many of the duties 
prohibitive, and entirely removing the duties on many arti- 
cles not competing with those produced here. 

Besides these questions, another had made its appearance. 
In his first message to Congress, Jackson intimated his dis- 
favor of renewing the charter of the Bank of the United 
States, which was to expire in 1S36. 2 "With the bank, Jack- 
son's opponents were indissolubly allied. It was the em- 
bodiment of their Constitutional doctrine and the represent- 
ative of the moneyed interests of the country. The issue, 
however, did not become formidable until just before the 
election of 1832, although the threatening attitude of Jack- 
son and some of his supporters, notably Benton, had pro- 
voked discussion and caused the bank and the anti-adminis- 
tration party to do all that could be done to insure the 
recharter. 



1 Bolles's Financial fflstory of the United States, vol. ii. p. 394 ; Greeley's 
Recollections of a Busy Life, p. 67. 

2 This message was the work of several hands. It was revised by Ham- 
ilton, who abridged and rewrote the part relating to the bank. " When I 
stopped here, he [Jackson] said, ' Do you think that is all I ought to say ?' 
I answered, ' I think you ought to say nothing at present about the bank.' 
He replied, 'Oh ! my friend, I am pledged against the bank, but if you 
think that is enough, so let it be.' " Van Buren expressed himself as agree- 
ing with Madison, that the Constitutional power to establish a national bank 
had been settled by practical construction. — Reminiscences of J. A. Hamil- 
ton, p. 150. 



Ch. IV.] CLAY THE WHIG NOMINEE FOR PRESIDENT 151 

By common consent of that party — then called the Na- 
tional Republican party, for it did not take the name of 
Whig until 1S3P — Clay was to be its candidate for the 
Presidency. This was generally understood after the elec- 
tion of 1828. He was formally nominated by the national 
convention held at Baltimore in December, 1831 ; the nomi- 
nee for Vice-President was John Sergeant, one of those 
who had advocated the prohibition of slavery in Missouri. 
After Clay retired from the Department of State he made 
several tours in Kentucky and the neighboring States. In 
the larger towns he usually made speeches, sometimes of 
considerable length, on political topics. The demonstra- 
tions with which he was everywhere greeted made him 
confident of success. But he received a very distinct warn- 
ing of disaster in the results of the Kentucky election in 
the early part of 1831 ; Jackson's popularity in the State 
showed no decline. Clay's adherents obtained only a nar- 
row majority in the State legislature, which was to elect 
a Senator. Clay was prevailed upon to accept the post. 2 



1 "The term 'Whig' was a nickname applied to the Scotch Presby- 
terians. It began at the time when the Cameronians took up arms for 
their religion, and was derived from 'whey,' refuse milk, which their 
poverty obliged them to use ; or, according to another version, from 
' whiggam,' a word employed by Scotch cattle-drovers of the West in driv- 
ing their horses."— Lecky's England in the Eighteenth Century, vol. i. p. 19. 
It is stated in Barnes's Life of Weed (vol. ii. p. 48) that the name was first 
suggested at a public meeting of the anti-Jackson men by James Watson 
Webb ; Philip Hone, however, says in his Diary (vol. ii. p. 34), that to the 
name " I stand godfather, having been the first to use it at a political 
meeting of which I was president, at Washington Hall." See also JViles's 
Register, vol. xlvi. p. 101 ; Seward's Autobiography, p. 237. 

2 " There is much anxiety, too, for the election in Kentucky, which was 
fixed for yesterday. Mr. Clay wished J. J. Crittenden to be elected ; but 
he cannot be chosen but by voting for himself. The election will fall, 
therefore, upon a Jackson man, or Clay himself must be elected by Critten- 
den's vote, even this being of so doubtful issue that Clay is unwilling to 



152 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

There was urgent reason. The mutter of the coming storm 
was growing more ominous. It was evident that Congress 
was to be the scene of a fierce and protracted struggle. 
However autocratic Jackson's behests, and however com- 
pliant the fealty of his party, Congress, which had now 
attained the full measure of its importance, was to be the 
seat of war. There the opposition was to show its boldest 
front. Clay had refused a seat in the House, and was re- 
luctant, as a Presidential candidate, to make himself the 
needless target of his foes. But it was the general desire of 
his party that he should command in person. Under these 
circumstances he returned, at the opening of the Twenty- 
second Congress, to the body in which he had won his first 
national distinction. 

That the new epoch which Jackson's elevation indicated 
had begun was everywhere visible. Everything that tells 
the history of the time bespeaks a transition so distinct as 
to seem almost abrupt. Events assumed a new mould and 
complexion. 

Never in the history of the country has public life ab- 
sorbed so large a proportion of the talent adapted to it as 
during the twenty years beginning with the Twenty-second 
Congress. Much of the talent that afterward sought the 
channels then newly opening — journalism, literature, corpo- 
rate enterprise, and the like — was devoted to the profes- 
sion of the law, and thence to politics. As a result, political 
activity became so intense that many of the performances 



take the chance." — Adams's Diary, January 5, 1831, vol. viii. p. 263. 
Clay was elected, however, by a majority of eight. Crittenden wrote to 
his daughter : " I could have gone to the Senate ; it was but for me to ex- 
press the wish and Mr. Clay would not have been the candidate. There 
was no collision, no rivalry between us. All that was done was with my 
perfect accordance."— -Coleman's Crittenden, vol. i. p. 81. 



Cn. IV.] THE POLICY OF THE WHIG PARTY 153 

enacted in the public arena only escaped being ridiculous 
by the great ability displayed and by their harmful con- 
sequences to the country ; for the people were hardly less 
frenzied in their partisanship than were their representa- 
tives. 

Clay's presence in Congress was necessarily the signal for 
energetic warfare against the administration. The qualities 
he had exhibited in his previous course of opposition not 
only reappeared in all their vigor, but were enhanced by 
his commanding position and the confidence he felt and in- 
spired. The principal features of the party policy were to 
procure the recharter of the bank and to perpetuate pro- 
tection. As to the latter, Clay asserted in a conclave of 
his friends that " to preserve, maintain, and strengthen the 
American System, he would defy the South, the President, 
and the devil." ' The other features of the party policy 
were to conform to exigencies. "Whatever opportunity of- 
fered was to be vigorously utilized. 

/ The session began December 5. January 9 Cla}' sub- 
mitted a resolution declaring his plan of tariff revision — to 
abolish all duties on articles not competing with domestic 
productions, except duties on wines and silks, which were to 
be reduced. This would permit the maintenance of the ex- 
isting or increased duties on other articles. The Committee 
on Finance was to report a bill framed on that basis. On 
the same day the memorial of the bank for the renewal of 
its charter was presented. This was to be the occasion of a 
bill for that purpose. But before the discussion of these 
paramount subjects had well begun the Senate carried out a 
preliminary detail of the Whig programme — the rejection 

1 Adams's Diary, vol. viii. p. 447 ; McCullocU's Men and Measures of 
Haifa Century, p. 506. 






154 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

of Van Buren's nomination as Minister to England. It was 
the first of a series of calamitous mistakes. 

Inasmuch as it was settled that Yan Buren was to be the 
Democratic candidate for successor to Jackson, it was sup- 
posed by the Whig leaders that the rejection of his nomi- 
nation as minister would injure him political^. To make 
it appear proper and just, however, was a troublesome 
task. Having been a Senator, he was entitled to the ben- 
efit of the " Senatorial courtesy." There was absolutely 
no personal ground on which to justify the action, for 
his character was irreproachable and his deportment ineffa- 
bly amiable. Moreover, the indignity would be poignantly 
severe, as he was sent after the adjournment of Congress, 
and had already been at his post several months. But 
after a painstaking delay the votes were procured and 
the modus operandi arranged. Twelve set speeches against 
the nomination were pronounced with dramatic solemnity. 
Had the occasion been the impeachment of the President 
the oratory would have displayed about the same quality, if 
not quantity, of patriotic bathos. Clay, "Webster, Hayne, 
and the rest of the dozen all asseverated their painful re- 
luctance, which a profound sense of public duty alone could 
constrain them to overcome. Van Buren was guilty of 
political misdeeds that rendered him unfit to represent 
the nation at a foreign court. To advance himself, he 
had embroiled the President and Yice-President and caused 
the disruption of the cabinet. He was chiefly responsible 
for introducing the system of political proscription. And, 
worst of all, he had stultified the nation by the instructions 
he had given as Secretary of State to McLane, Minister to 
England, to govern his negotiations touching the "West 
Indian trade, which had long been interrupted through 



Ch. IV.] THE JACKSON AND CALHOUN QUARREL 155 

needless differences between the two governments. The 
fact is that he, or rather the President through him, had 
directed a frank avowal of the errors on our part that had 
impeded the adjustment of the subject, in order to " obviate 
as far as practicable the unfavorable impression they had 
produced.'' These were the charges preferred. They were 
variously treated, according to the histrionic powers of the 
different speakers. The two latter were made most of by 
the "Whigs, and the other, by the adherents of Calhoun, who 
had zealously joined the cabal. 

Had it been true that Yan Buren fomented the breach 
between Jackson and Calhoun, no dishonorable means being 
used, it would not justify the rejection of his nomination. 
But it is obvious from the facts already narrated, and with- 
out regard to Jackson's express declaration, that Yan Buren 
was not the cause of the trouble, which originated in Craw- 
ford's disclosure of Calhoun's course concerning the Seminole 
campaign. That Yan Buren profited by it was immaterial 
to the question ; some one necessarily would. Indeed, it is 
probable that in any event he would have received Jack- 
son's preference. He was at the head of the dominant 
power in New York State, not by accident or mere force of 
circumstances, but in consequence of his capacity, political 
sagacity, and singularly attractive personal qualities. He 
had begun at the bottom. Before attaining his majority he 
was conspicuous in local politics, and at an early age was 
a commanding personage in the councils of his party. At 
the same time his learning and skill as a lawyer won him at 
the bar a reputation equally wide and solid. The bare list 
of the successive steps of his rise to eminence and influence 
in the midst of politicians of remarkable ability — for in this 
respect the political history of New York during this period 



156 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

is altogether unrivalled — is sufficient proof of his powers. 
In 1808, at the age of twenty-six, he became surrogate of 
his county. In 1812 he was elected to the State Senate, 
which was then also the court of last resort. Two years 
later he was made Attorney-General of the State, at that 
time a very high professional distinction. In 1S20 he was 
elected to the Senate of the United States. In 1S28 he was 
nominated for Governor and was elected, carrying the State 
for Jackson. This made his entrance into Jackson's cabi- 
net inevitable ; and once there, it would have been singular 
had he not won Jackson's cordial respect and friendship. 1 
In any case, therefore, to oppose his nomination as minister 
because of Jackson's attitude toward Calhoun was unjust 
and unseemly. 

It was scarcely less improper to charge upon him, for 
such a purpose, Jackson's policy of political appointments. 
Whatever the difference of opinion as to the propriety of 
that course, it had no relation to Van Buren's nomination, 
and hence it was not a legitimate ground of opposition to it. 
But, as before shown, that policy was not the result of the 
advice or efforts of any individual, even assuming the im- 
possible theory that Jackson could have been governed in 
that regard by Van Buren or any one else ; Jackson need- 
ed no stimulation, and, if he did, it was supplied by the 
general political situation in which he found himself, and 
the demands upon him from every quarter. Merely po- 
litical differences between the President and a majority of 
the Senate have never been urged as a reason for reject- 



1 Hamilton asserts that at this period Van Buren's historical informa- 
tion was meagre, and that in the composition of his state papers he de- 
pended on his son John and B. F. Butler, his law partner and subsequent- 
ly Attorney-General. — Beminiscences of J. A. Hamilton, pp. 68, 97, 216. 



Ch. IV.] THE CHARGES AGAINST VAN BUREN 157 

ing the President's nominations ; if they were, he would 
often be unable to form a cabinet. No doubt Clay was not 
a little actuated by the fact that Jackson and some of his 
friends had voted against his nomination for Secretary of 
State ; but it would have been more worthy of him to re- 
member that Van Buren was then in the Senate and had 
not opposed him. 

The last charge — that directing the acknowledgment of 
undeniable error was in derogation of national honor, re- 
quiring the minister to uphold his country right or wrong 
— does not deserve refutation. It was a noble, as it was a 
very successful, departure from the common course of diplo- 
macy, which has alw^s been to obtain advantage rather 
than justice. The fault that Yan Buren committed was in 
supporting this consideration by the far-fetched and super- 
fluous suggestion that the question had been virtually deter- 
mined by the people, whose judgment was unfavorable to 
the policy of the last administration. This, it was contend- 
ed, made the minister the representative of his party, not of 
the country. And there was much force in the criticism ; 
still, if the instructions were otherwise proper, this error 
was not sufficient to justify the rejection. 

The defence was not conducted with the thoroughness 
and vigor that the opposition warranted. But four Senators 
spoke in Yan Buren's behalf, and they failed to take due 
advantage of the merits of the case, allowing them to be 
obscured by debating irrelevant considerations. Some of 
the most ardent supporters of the administration shared 
Benton's view of the matter. They voted to confirm, but 
said nothing, preferring that the nomination be rejected, on 
the assumption that instead of Yan Buren being injured he 
would be materially strengthened, as the people would attrib- 






158 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

ute the affair entirely to personal rivalry. 1 And the sequel 
proved this view to be correct. 

This electioneering episode finished, the Senate recurred 
to Clay's tariff resolution. Two days after offering it he 
called it up and delivered a speech in its support. As it 
was announced that he would speak, the floor and galleries 
were thronged. It was six years since he had been heard 
in Congress by the public ; for the debate on Van Buren's 
nomination was in secret session, though the speeches 
were immediately published, having been made for that 
purpose. But the speech on the tariff resolution was nei- 
ther long nor showy. 2 His manner of introducing it, how- 
ever, betrayed an affectation, despite his disclaimer, that 
provoked comment. " I have a few observations, Mr. Pres- 
ident," he began, " and only a few, to submit to the Sen- 
ate on the measure before you, in doing which I have to 
ask all your indulgence. I am getting old ; I feel too sen- 
sibly and unaffectedly the effects of approaching age, and 
have been for some years very little in the habit of address- 
ing; deliberative assemblies. I am told that I have been the 



1 "Mr. Calhoun, as Vice-President, presiding in the Senate, could not 
speak ; but he was understood to be personated by his friends, and twice 
gave the casting vote, one interlocutory, against the nominee — a tie being 
contrived for that purpose, and the combined plan requiring him to be 
xipon the record." "I heard Mr. CalL^un say to one of his doubting 
friends : ' It will kill him, sir, kill him dead. He will never kick, sir, never 
kick.' " — Benton's Thirty Years' View, vol. i. pp. 215, 219. 

2 "Clay's presence in the Senate this winter is providential. Surely he 
is needed more than in 1824, if possible, and he has a cordial, most able, 
and sufficient support in the Senate. His speech was not showy, nor vehe- 
ment, but cool, plain, paternal, grave, conciliatory." — Choate to Nichols, 
January 14, 1832. Yet Adams recorded: " I found much excitement among 
the Senators from the South upon the doctrines of Mr. Clay's speech yes- 
terday. Mr. Tyler, of Virginia, and General Smith, of Maryland, spoke 
of dividing the Union by the Potomac."— Diary, January 12, vol. viii. 
p. 455. 



Ch. IV.] CLAY'S ARGUMENT FOR PROTECTION 159 

cause — the most unwilling cause, if I have been — of exciting 
expectations, the evidence of which is around us. I re f ret 
it; for however the subject on which I am to speak in otner 
hands might be treated, to gratify the presence and att ;n- 
tion now given, in mine I have nothing but a plain, unvar- 
nished, and unambitious exposition to make." The comments 
on this exordium were mostly in line of compliment, though 
with covert humor. One Senator, however — Smith, of Mary- 
land — made the rather tart observation that he could not 
complain of the infirmities of age, though older than the 
Senator from Kentucky, nor could he find in his years any 
apology for the insufficiency of his speech. This gave Clay 
some offence ; and to his retort Smith made this amusing 
reply: "The gentleman from Kentucky is the last who 
should take the remark as disparaging to his vigor and per- 
sonal appearance ; for when that gentleman spoke to us of 
his age I heard a young lady near me exclaim, ' Old! why, I 
think he is mighty pretty !' " 

In his speech Clay assumed the "established policy of 
protection," contenting himself with some reference to the 
history of it, and the benefits he alleged to be its fruits. 
He adverted to the suggestions of the Secretary of the 
Treasury, which pointed to a general reduction of the tariff, 
and explained his own plan to the contrary, touching inci- 
dentally the subjects of internal improvements and the pub- 
lic lands. He opposed a rapid reduction of the public debt, 
and urged the adoption of the system of home valuation of 
goods subject to ad valorem duties. He also spoke of the 
Southern hostility to the protective policy, but held that 
the importance of the system to the rest of the Union 
required its maintenance. Yet he professed to act " in a 
spirit of warm attachment to all parts of our beloved coun- 



160 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

try, with a lively solicitude to restore and preserve its 
harmony, and with a firm determination to pour oil and 
ba.m into existing wounds rather than further to lacerate 
th m." 

He was much mistaken if he supposed that protection 
was so firmly established as to be secure from serious assault. 
While he was Secretary of State the tariff of 1828 was en- 
acted. It has always been known as the " tariff of abomina- 
tions." In its day it was also styled the " black tariff." It 
flagrantly betrayed the most pernicious tendencies of protec- 
tive legislation. It was the motley and undisguised product 
of politics and sectional and private interests. The tariff of 
1824 had hardly gone into effect before the woollen interests 
began to clamor and strive for more protection. On the 
eve of the ensuing Presidential election a tariff bill was in- 
troduced as an administration measure. Its main object 
was to increase the duties on wool and woollen goods ; but 
as that object could not be attained without bartering with 
various other interests, these interests also were admitted 
to the benefits of the bill. Even Webster, who previously 
figured among the ablest advocates of commercial freedom, 
changed his ground. To win favor with the East, he sup- 
ported the bill, though a majority of the Eastern Repre- 
sentatives opposed it. His plea was that inasmuch as pro- 
tection had apparently become a settled policy, and New 
England capital had been invested on the strength of it, he 
was bound to support it. Yet he hesitated for some time 
before he decided to vote for the bill. He then accepted 
the admittedly vicious provisions in order to save those 
that were satisfactory to him. The tariff of 1828 thus 
became a conglomeration of monstrosities, some of which 
were unwisely introduced by the opponents of the bill in 



Ch. IV.] TRACTS OX THE PROTECTIVE POLICY 161 

the expectation that they would prevent its passage. 1 Even 
Van Buren, who was then in the Senate, voted for it. It 
was extremely obnoxious in the South, upon which it bore 
with uncompensated and defiant injustice. Hence the prop- 
osition to make the entire revenue system subservient to 
protection and perpetuate and increase the heaviest and 
most irksome burdens upon the South was very far from 
pouring "oil and balm into existing wounds": it added 
insult to injury. Strenuous resistance was at once re- 
solved on. 

January 16, five days after Clay's speech, Hayne offered 
an amendment to the resolution, by which he proposed the 
immediate reduction of the import revenue, according to the 
existing scale, to an amount sufficient to defray the expenses 
of the government after paying the public debt, and the 
gradual adoption of a general average of duties. He sup- 
ported his proposition in a speech of great ability. The pro- 
found impression it produced impelled Clay to reply. The 
result was his notable " Defence of the American System." 
It ranks among the most conspicuous contributions to the 
literature of protection in this country. For years this 
speech and Hamilton's celebrated Report were regarded as 
the most authoritative expositions of the protective policy. 
After much further debate, Clay's resolution was adopted 
and a bill modelled on the plan it proposed became a law. 
But it was soon to bear bitter fruit. 

The next subject of debate was that of the public lands. 



1 Clay wrote to Crittenden, February 14, 1828 : "We shall have the 
tariff up in Congress next week. I anticipate a tremendous discussion. 
The Jackson party are playing a game of brag on the subject. They do 
not really desire the passage of their own measure, and it may happen in 
the sequel that what is desired by neithei party commands the support of 
both." — Coleman's Crittenden, vol. i. p. 67. 
11 



162 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

Like the tariff, it was perennial. Though a large portion of 
the public domain had been slowly disposed of by gift and 
sale, vast areas, amounting at that time to 1,090,000,000 
acres, still remained, chiefly in the Southern and Western 
States. They had always been a source of scheming, which 
constantly increased with the development of the country : 
public property is always viewed with eager and ingenious 
eyes. For some years this growing interest in the subject 
had prompted a variety of plans for dealing with it. Pro- 
tectionists wanted the government to retain control of the 
lands and maintain prices sufficiently high to impede the 
rapid occupation of them. This would " protect agriculture " 
and not divert attention from manufacturing. It would 
hinder any material increase in the wages of labor by con- 
fining the working classes to the East, as the new lands 
would be rendered less alluring. Thus free lands and free 
trade became allied policies, and as such were denounced by 
the protectionists. But the subject was now introduced 
mainly to embarrass Clay. 

The principal champion of the free-lands policy was Ben- 
ton, who began his crusade in its behalf in 1824. His plan 
was that of graduated prices and gratuitous grants to actual 
settlers— the system of pre-emption. In 1826, he says, he 
first read Edmund Burke's great plea for the disposition of 
the crown lands, in which he argued that the principal rev- 
enue to be derived from these uncultivated wastes would 
" spring from the improvement and population of the king- 
dom." This furnished Benton with a broader reason for his 
plan than he had before conceived, as well as an imposing 
authority which won Jackson's approval when brought to his 
attention. Benton labored zealously from } T ear to year in 
furtherance of his policy, and his bills and speeches were at 



Ch. IV.] THE DISPOSITION OF THE PUBLIC LANDS 163 

length instrumental in making it a part of the Democratic 
creed. 

The Secretary of the Treasury, McLane, proposed in his 
annual report for 1831 that the public lands within any of the 
States should be sold to those States and the proceeds be 
apportioned among all the States. Six of the new States 
petitioned Congress for the cession of the lands so situated. 
In March, 1832, one Senator moved an inquiry into the ex- 
pediency of reducing the price of the lands, and another, 
into that of McLane's proposition. The whole subject was 
then referred to the Committee on Manufactures, of which 
Clay was chairman. As there was a standing Committee on 
Public Lands, this course was manifestly improper and 
fraught with great danger to Clay as a Presidential candi- 
date. As he himself put it : " Although any other member 
of that committee could have rendered himself, with appro- 
priate researches and proper time, more competent than I 
was to understand the subject of the public lands, it was 
known that from my local position I alone was supposed 
to have any particular knowledge of them. Whatever 
emanated from the committee was likely, therefore, to be 
ascribed to me. If the committee should propose a measure 
of great liberality toward the new States, the old States 
might complain. If the measure should seem to lean tow- 
ard the old States, the new might be dissatisfied. And if 
it included neither class of States, but recommended a plan 
according to which there would be distributed impartial 
justice among all the States, it was far from certain that 
any would be pleased." 

The proceeding long rankled in his mind. " I strenuously 
opposed the reference," said he in a speech in 1835. " I re- 
monstrated, I protested, I entreated, I implored. It was in 






1G4 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

vain that I insisted that the Committee on Public Lands 
was the regular standing committee to which such refer- 
ence should be made. It was in vain that I contended that 
the public lands and domestic manufactures were subjects 
absolutely incongruous. The unnatural alliance was order- 
ed by the vote of a majority of the Senate. I felt that a 
personal embarrassment was intended me. I felt that the 
design was to place in my hands a many-edged instrument 
which I could not touch without being wounded. Never- 
theless, I subdued all my repugnance and I engaged assidu- 
ously in the task which had been so unkindly assigned 
me." In a speech in 1841 he expressed himself in the same 
strain. 

The report of the committee was soon forthcoming. It 
was a long document, giving the devious history and the 
status of the subject, together with the argument for the 
plan proposed. The plan was embodied in an accompany- 
ing bill. It was against reducing the price of the lands or 
ceding them to the States. But as the political exigencies 
of the situation required some new departure which would 
at least tend to neutralize conflicting views and interests, it 
was proposed that Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Mis- 
souri, and Mississippi should receive twelve and a half per 
centum of the proceeds of the lands sold within their limits, 
to be applied to schools and internal improvements. The 
remainder of the proceeds was to be distributed among all 
the States according to their population, for the same pur- 
poses and for colonization, as their legislatures should di- 
rect. The act was to remain in force five years. There 
were other details, but these were the principal features of | 
the scheme. It would leave the existing relations of the J 
public lands to the economic conditions of the country sub- f 



Ch. IV.] THE OPPOSITION TO THE LAND SCHEME 165 

stantially unaltered, yet it would satisfy the East, yield 
something to the "West, and effectively further the policy of 
internal improvements. 

It encountered determined resistance. The process that 
begot it necessarily made it an important part of the "Whig 
policy, and a prominent issue between the parties. The re- 
port and bill were immediately referred to the committee to 
which the subject should have gone originally, the Com- 
mittee on Public Lands. A few days afterward that com- 
mittee made a voluminous report sharply combating all 
phases of Clay's plan. It was for the most part Benton's 
production. It proposed the reduction of the minimum 
price to one dollar per acre, and after five years to fifty 
cents, fifteen per centum of the proceeds to be divided among 
all the States. There were also to be provisions for pre-emp- 
tion. The whole subject had become so involved through 
the various and unequal benefits which the different States, 
old and new, had derived from the public domain that no 
general plan could be adopted that would accomplish a per- 
fectly equitable adjustment among all the States. But, 
looking at the subject broadly, there is little doubt that 
Benton's plan, while open to some criticism, would have 
produced a more just and beneficial result. Whatever 
its minor consequences, it would throw open the wilder- 
ness to population and development, and thus prove of 
much greater, though indirect, benefit to the nation than 
w T ould follow treating the subject as a matter of rev- 
enue. 

A spirited debate ensued. Clay's bill was finally passed 
by the Senate, but it failed in the House. The subject, how- 
ever, was now placed in a position of political importance it 
had never before occupied. The immediate purpose of bring- 



k 






160 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

ing it forward was accomplished — Clay was irretrievably in- 
jured in the "West. 

Meanwhile, the great topic of the session had reached its 
climax. July 4, the President received the bill to recharter 
the bank ; on the 10th he returned it with his veto. 



CHAPTER V 

The Controversy over the Bank of the United States — Thomas H. Benton 
— The Whig Leaders Refuse to Compromise with Jackson on the 
Question of Rechartering the Bank — The Bank as a Political Issue — 
The Veto of the Bill to Recharter— The Error of the Whig Policy— 
The Debate on the Veto — The Presidential Campaign of 1832 — Jack- 
son's Triumph — Nullification — The Force Bill and the Verplanck Tariff 
Bill — John C. Calhoun — Clay's Compromise Bill — It is Substituted for 
the Verplanck Bill in the House and Passed by the Senate — The Com- 
promise Bill and the Force Bill become Laws, and South Carolina 
Repeals the Nullification Ordinance — The Wisdom of the Compromise 
and Clay's Responsibility for it — His Land Bill is Passed by both 
Houses, but Vetoed by the President 

No topic in our political history, except slavery and the 
tariff, has been the subject of so much controversy as the 
subversion of the Bank of the United States. It was the 
chief exploit of Jackson's Presidency, and, like most of his 
political acts, it has been glorified or denounced according 
to the political bias of the critic. The literature of the 
subject is almost endless. For several years the bank was 
the source of frequently recurring investigation, report, and 
debate in Congress, and discussion outside. Nor did the 
struggle cease after the bank was gone , it was even more 
violent over the efforts to establish Jie Independent Treas- 
ury to meet the public functions which the bank had per- 
formed. Besides the records, the multitude of government 
documents, and the current literature bearing on the sub- 
ject, every historical and biographical work relating to the 
political and economic history of the period treats of it 



168 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

more or less. To examine it in detail, however, is needless 
to the present survey ; the principal facts and general con- 
siderations will affoH a sufficiently clear and satisfactory 
view of the question. 

Jackson's prejudice against a national bank was of long 
standing. It is said that Clay's speech in 1811, in opposi- 
tion to the recharter of the original bank, fixed Jackson's 
opinions on the subject. 1 Oertainly the main grounds of his 
objection to the recharter in these later years were substan- 
tially the same as Clay advanced in that speech. 

The new bank, chartered in 1S16, after some years of bad 
administration, which precipitated the crisis of 1819 and the 
ensuing period of general liquidation, partly accomplished 
the objects for which it was established. Had it been 
well conducted at the outset it would soon have materi- 
ally aided in restoring the government and the country 
from the decrepit financial condition into which they had 
fallen during the war. It did finally effect the resumption 
of specie payments, against the opposition of the State 
banks, and supplied a currency that was uniform and ac- 
ceptable, though far from perfect. After the first years 
it was not open to any just charge of insolvency or of not 
properly performing all its business with the government 
according to the terms of its charter. In all this it was 
powerfully aided by the general recuperation of the times; 
yet it was fairly entitled to the credit of performing some 
valuable service. The latent evil in the character of the 
institution did not appear until 1829. 

Jeremiah Mason, a noted and able New England lawyer 
and a close political friend of Daniel "Webster, had been 



1 Parton's Jackson, vol. ii. p. G54. 



Ch. V.] BENTON'S CONGRESSIONAL PROMINENCE 169 

previously appointed president of the Portsmouth branch. 
In the extremely rigorous, but probably faithful, perform- 
ance of his duties he had incurred the ill-will of some of the 
patrons of the bank, by compelling — in an unnecessarily 
austere manner, it was charged — the payment of certain 
protested paper, presumably held against Democrats. This 
led to an effort on the part of Isaac Hill — who, it will be re- 
membered, was one of Jackson's '•" Kitchen Cabinet" — and 
other New Hampshire adherents of the administration to 
cause Mason's removal. Then followed a protracted cor- 
respondence over the matter between Nicholas Piddle, the 
doughty and over-fluent president of the bank, and Ingham, 
Secretary of the Treasury. The discussion at length de- 
veloped into a severe and general encounter. But the bank 
pursued its own course in all respects notwithstanding. 
Jackson had immediately and very characteristically taken 
up the quarrel, and in his message to Congress soon af- 
terward gave the ominous announcement of his hostility to 
the renewal of the charter. 1 But to prevent the recharter 
was a difficult undertaking. As it was several years since 
the bank had been seriously challenged from any quarter, 
many of Jackson's chief supporters were friends of the in- 
stitution ; and many others of his party were interested in 
one way and another in its continuance. It was at this 
juncture that Benton earned his first promotion toward the 
leadership of the administration forces in Congress which 
he soon attained. 



1 "In the Presidential campaign of 1824 the bank was not so much as 
mentioned, nor was it mentioned in that of 1828. In all the political pam- 
phlets, volumes, newspapers, campaign papers, burlesques, and carica- 
tures of those years there is not the most distant allusion to the bank as 
a political issue." — Parton's Jackson, vol. iii. p. 257. 



!?0 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

At the beginning of Jackson's administration, March 4, 
1829, Benton lacked but ten days of being forty -seven years 
of age ; he was in the prime of his powers, with eight years 
of experience in the Senate. While he had not yet risen to 
a position of imposing influence, he had laid the foundation 
for it. The Senate never contained a more robust personage. 
He was neither unique nor brilliant. His moral and mental 
integrity were sterling. His large, solid frame was in har- 
mony with his intellectual qualities. He was a man of 
momentum. He served in the Senate thirty years contin- 
uously, during the most variously exciting political period 
the country has ever seen ; and by his straightforward and 
energetic devotion to the principles he had early imbibed, 
he obtained a respect that the more brilliant but vacillating 
talents of his most distinguished compeers in public life 
could not command. 

His father was a North Carolina lawyer of standing. He 
died in the boy's early youth, leaving as part of his estate 
a tract of forty thousand acres near Nashville, Tennessee, 
whither the widow with her several children soon afterward 
removed. The land was well located, and about the settle- 
ment begun by her grew up in the course of a few years 
the village of Bentonville. Before the family went West, 
Thomas had attended good schools and developed a strong 
and abiding love of learning. His mother had education, 
strength of character, and a refined moral sense. She ex- 
erted much influence over him and effectually fostered his 
intellectual tastes. Though he did not attend school after 
leaving North Carolina, he acquired by assiduous reading 
and study at home an extensive and available knowledge of 
histoiy and literature. Barring his defects in the niceties 
of the classics, he subsequently ranked with the most ac- 



Ch. V.] BENTON'S EARLY CAREER 171 

complished statesmen of the East. In due time, after serv- 
ing a successful apprenticeship as a planter, he took up the 
stud} 7- of the law and was admitted to practice. In 1811 
he served a term in the Tennessee legislature, where he 
exhibited the same traits that marked his Senatorial career. 
Like most "Western men, he was enthusiastic for war with 
England. He raised a regiment of volunteers for Jackson's 
first army, which did little more than organize before it was 
disbanded. He was afterward appointed lieutenant-colonel 
by the President ; but before he could reach Canada, where 
he was to serve, peace was declared and he resigned his 
commission. In 1815 he removed to St. Louis, continuing 
the practice of the law and publishing a newspaper. His 
practice was lucrative and his newspaper productive of 
quarrels that led to several duels, in one of which he killed 
his adversary. There were few men of any influence in the 
Southwest in those times who did not engage in these 
affairs ; readiness to face the pistol when the " code of 
honor" required it was one of the essentials of popular re- 
spect. That Benton never outgrew this chivalrous sentiment 
is shown by the zest of his minute account, in the Thirty 
Years' View, of the Clay-Randolph duel, which he witnessed. 
He closes by saying: "Certainly duelling is bad and has 
been put down, but not quite so bad as its substitute — 
revolvers, bowie-knives, blackguarding, and street assassi- 
nations under the pretext of self-defence." 

He was thoroughly in touch with the people of his region. 
Possessing in an eminent degree the qualities that character- 
ized the prevailing type, his ability and attainments natural- 
ly advanced him to the rank of influence he so long held in 
Missouri and the West. He was not the inventor of politi- 
cal theories and projects, but the representative of the West- 



172 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

ern people and the exponent of the "Western policy. In the 
contest over the admission of Missouri he took chief com- 
mand of the local movement against the restriction of 
slavery, which finally overcame all opposition. Though he 
was a slave-holder, his sentiments were adverse to slavery. 
He opposed restriction in Missouri because slavery existed 
there by the general choice of the people. But the compro- 
mise through which Missouri came into the Union met his 
cordial favor, as it quieted a dangerous agitation and fixed 
a limit to the extension of slavery. He was elected one of 
the first Senators from the new State, and remained the 
dictator of its politics until the heroic course he took in 
opposition to the extension of slavery caused his over- 
throw. 

He at once assumed an active part in the proceedings of 
the Senate. He was not an orator in the sense that Clay 
was, but a skilful and prolific debater, sometimes tedious 
and often pompous. His capacity for labor was prodigious, 
hence his speeches usually displayed wide and accurate in- 
vestigation. His peculiar strength lay in his mastery of 
facts and details — and the impressive boldness with which 
he presented them. He steadily improved, and, what best 
indicates his genuine and tenacious powers, he continued to 
improve to the end of his career. On most of the numer- 
ous questions, arising in various ways, that related to the 
expansion and development of the West, he took a vigorous 
initiative. It was this which gave him by degrees that 
Western character and influence which made him an im- 
portant factor in national politics. During the canvass of 
1824 he supported Clay; but after the election devolved 
upon the House he supported Jackson, because he was a 
Western man and because he had received the highest pop- 



Ch. V.] MEANS TO SECURE THE BANK'S RECHARTER 173 

ular and electoral vote. Thenceforth he co-operated with 
the Democratic party, which soon began to receive the im- 
press of his views. 

Before the war, Jackson and Benton were warm friends. 
After the war began, Benton was Jackson's aide-de-camp 
until the first disbandment of his troops. It was Benton 
who induced the President, by political threats, to meet the 
.obligations that Jackson had incurred to provide for the re- 
turn of the troops at Natchez. For some years after the 
affray between Jackson and Coffee and the Bentons the 
two were estranged ; they then resumed their friendly re- 
lations. Before Jackson's declaration in his message against 
the bank, Benton had made several futile attacks upon the 
bank, and the subject had been repeatedly discussed be- 
tween him and Jackson. As they thoroughly agreed in 
their opinions concerning the institution, Benton was ready 
to lead the contest against it when the time arrived. 

The bank and its friends, taking the alarm which the 
message had sounded, exerted all possible efforts to create 
public sentiment in its behalf. A committee in each House 
of Congress made a long and vigorous report upholding the 
bank. In the House adverse resolutions were quickly and 
silently tabled. The press, with few exceptions, teemed 
with articles in favor of the recharter. Besides these means, 
every resource of politics was brought to bear. Little, how- 
ever, was done to counteract the effect of this agitation. 
" The current was all setting one way," says Benton. " I 
determined to raise a voice against it in the Senate, and 
made several efforts before I succeeded — the thick array of 
the bank friends throwing every obstacle in my way, and 
even friends holding me back for the regular course, which 
was to wait until the application for the renewed charter 



174 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

was presented, and then oppose it. I foresaw that if this 
course was followed the bank would triumph without a con- 
test — that she would wait until a majority was installed in 
both Houses of Congress — then present her application — 
hear a few barren speeches in opposition — and then gallop 
the renewed charter through." In February, 1831, he asked 
leave to submit a resolution declaring that the charter ought 
not to be renewed, and supported the application in an ex- 
tended speech. 

The charter was similar to that of the original Bank of 
the United States founded by Hamilton. One-fifth ($7,000,- 
000) of the capital stock was subscribed by the government 
by a stock-note bearing five per centum interest; the re- 
mainder was subscribed by the public — one-fifth in specie 
and three-fifths in United States stocks. Five of the twenty 
directors were appointed by the President, subject to con- 
firmation by the Senate. The Secretary of the Treasury 
was vested with certain important discretionary powers over 
the government's relations with the bank. The principal 
powers and privileges of the bank were exclusive ; and be- 
sides the great benefits derived from its currency functions 
and the prestige of its partnership with the government, it 
and its twenty-five branches were depositories of the pub- 
lic moneys, the undrawn balances of which were steady and 
considerable and bore no interest. 1 The bonus to the gov- 
ernment of a million and a half, exacted by the charter, was 
more than offset by the interest paid by the government 
on loans from the bank. The amount of the dividends re- 
ceived by the government was nearly one hundred thou- 
sand dollars less than the interest on the stock-note, which 



1 The average monthly balance to the credit of the government in the 
bank and its branches from 1818 to 1832 was $6,700,000. 



Ch. V.] BENTON'S SPEECH AGAINST RECHARTER 175 

was not paid until 1831. Other losses, indirect, were easily 
traced. These leading facts furnished the topics for Ben- 
ton's harangue. It was an indictment in several distinct 
and subdivided counts, all put in plain terms for popular 
effect. 

His method of attack, as well as many of his arguments, 
were drawn from the debates in Parliament over the re- 
charter of the Bank of England, which presented many 
points of resemblance to the issue here. He did not touch on 
the Constitutional question, but assailed the bank solely on 
the score of its general character. He denounced it as " an 
institution too great and powerful to be tolerated in a gov- 
ernment of free and equal laws "; because " its tendencies 
were dangerous and pernicious to the government and the 
people "; and because of " the exclusive privileges and anti-re- 
publican monopoly it gave to the stockholders." These con- 
siderations he explained and illustrated in various ways and 
with graphic, though sometimes rather demagogical, effect. 
He closed with one of his pleas for hard money, which event- 
ually gave him the sobriquet of " Old Bullion." 

As soon as he had finished his speech his application to 
introduce the resolution was denied without discussion. 
" The debate stopped with the single speech," sa}-s Benton, 
characteristically ; " but it was a speech to be read by the 
people — the masses — the millions ; and was conceived and 
delivered for that purpose ; and was read by them ; and has 
been complimented since as having crippled the bank, and 
given it the wound of which it afterward died, but not with- 
in the year and a day which would make the slayer re- 
sponsible for the homicide." 

In his annual message at the opening of the Twent} 7 - 
second Congress, Jackson merely declared that he still held 



176 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

the same opinions concerning the bank which he had stated 
in his previous messages. " Having thus discharged a con- 
scientious duty," he added, " I deem it proper on this occa- 
sion, without more particular reference to the views of the 
subject there expressed, to leave it for the present to the in- 
vestigation of an enlightened people and their representa- 
tives." At the same time the Secretary of the Treasury, in 
his report, strongly favored the bank. 1 The effort to pro- 
cure a recharter at this session was contrary to the wishes of 
the bank and its non-political friends. Its political friends 
arbitrarily compelled it. The bank policy had been made 
one of the principal features of the Whig platform adopted 
at the Baltimore convention, held only a few days after the 
session began, and Clay declined to recede from the fatuous 
plan of campaign to overthrow Jackson on that issue. It is 
related that Jackson himself tried about this time to settle 
the question amicably, by proposing a compromise through 
the conditions of a recharter. " Shortly before the bank 
applied to Congress for a recharter," says Thurlow Weed, 
" the Honorable Louis McLane, the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury, invited Mr. Biddle, the president of the United States 
Bank, to Washington. At their interview the Secretary in- 
formed Mr. Biddle that he was authorized by the President 
to say that if the proposed recharter of the bank contain- 
ed certain modifications, which Mr. McLane handed to Mr. 



1 " It is now generally admitted, I think, after a considerate examination 
of Mr. McLane's views, that he does not express any opposition to those 
entertained by myself ; although it is obvious that his solicitude to obtaiu 
a new charter, so modified as to free the institution from the objections of 
the Executive, springs from convictions much more favorable than mine 
of the general character and conduct of the institution. Mr. McLane and 
myself understand each other, and have not the slightest disagreement 
about the principles which will be a sine qua non to my assent to a bill re- 
chartering the bank." — Jackson to Hamilton, December 12, 1831. 






Ch. v.] no compromise on the bank question 177 

Biddle in writing, the bill would be approved. Mr. Biddle 
returned to Philadelphia, and submitted the proposed modi- 
fications to Mr. John Sergeant, a director of the bank and 
its counsel, and to one or two other influential directors, by 
each one of whom the modifications were accepted. But 
before announcing such acquiescence to the Secretary of the 
Treasury, it was deemed proper to confer with the leading 
friends of the bank then in Congress. Mr. Biddle and Mr. 
Sergeant, therefore, called upon Messrs. Clay and "Webster, 
submitting to these gentlemen the modifications required to 
secure the appioval by the President of a recharter of the 
bank. After r.uich discussion and consideration, Messrs. 
Clay and Webster came to the conclusion that the question 
of a recharter had progressed too far and had assumed aspects 
too decided in the public mind and in Congress to render 
any compromise or change of front expedient or desirable. 
Messrs. Biddle and Sergeant retired for consultation, but re- 
turned in the evening of the same day, confirmed in their 
convictions that it was wise to accept the offer of the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury. Messrs. Clay and "Webster replied 
that they had borne the brunt of the battle so far, and that 
they were confident of their ability to carry a bill through 
Congress rechartering the bank, even though the bill should 
encounter a Presidential veto ; but that they could not be 
responsible for the result if in the heat of the contest the 
bank, abandoning its reliable friends, should strike hands 
with its foe." ' This very significant account finds strong 
confirmation in the brief and perfunctory manner in which 
Jackson had touched the bank question in his last message, 
and in the report of the Secretary of the Treasury. One of 



1 Thurlcw Weed's AutobiograjiJiy, vol. i. p. 373. 
12 



178 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

the chief political considerations of the Whig leaders in pre- 
cipitating the issue was the expectation of winning Pennsyl- 
vania from Jackson. As the bank was located at Philadel- 
phia, it was supposed that it would exert a decisive influence 
on the popular opinion of the State. 

Upon the presentation of the bank's memorial for a re- 
charter it was referred in the Senate to a select committee, 
and in the House to the Committee on Ways and Means, 
both committees having a majority of pro-bank men. Some 
days after this Benton returned to the attack. This time he 
asked leave to introduce a resolution declaring that the 
" branch drafts " were illegal and ought to be suppressed. 
This was the text for another speech. These drafts were an 
imitation of a Scotch invention which came into common 
use in Great Britain. They were prohibited by an act of 
Parliament in 1826, the same year in which the Bank of the 
United States adopted the contrivance. The drafts were 
issued by the branches, most of them by the branches in the 
South and West, and payable at the main bank in Philadel- 
phia. They would be paid on presentation at any of the 
branches, however ; but as they were in small denominations 
they became the principal currency of the region in which 
they were issued, and were rarely redeemed. In 1832 the 
amount of them in circulation was over seven million dol- 
lars. Able lawyers had pronounced them legal, yet it was a 
serious question whether they were justified by the terms of 
the charter, which guarded with scrupulous care the emis- 
sion of paper expressly designed for currency. Certainly, 
whatever the instruments might be styled, they possessed 
most of the attributes of an unrestrained paper currency, . 
and no one denied that they might lead to dangerous re- 
sults. Benton's attack was sharp and vigorous ; but it 



Ch. V.] BENTON LEADS THE ANTI-BANK FORCES 179 

met the same immediate fate that had befallen the former 
one. 

Though Jackson had been willing to avoid the bank issue 
by a compromise, the course of his opponents could not 
have been better calculated to stimulate his combative 
energy to its highest tension. He and his advisers were no 
doubt actuated in their desire to take the question out of the 
pending election by an appreciation of the tremendous and 
ramified power the bank could wield against him. But 
when his conciliatory proposition was defiantly rejected, for 
political reasons solely, it was a political necessity, and 
would have been with any candidate in the same situation, 
to enter the contest with all his power. He did so, and with 
keen delight. Benton now assumed authoritative command 
of the anti-bank forces. His assault on the branch -draft 
system was only a preliminary skirmish ; an organized and 
concerted campaign followed. " It was seen," says Benton, 
" to be the policy of the bank leaders to carry the charter 
first and quietly through the Senate, and afterwards in the 
same way through the House. We determined to have a 
contest in both places and to force the bank into defences 
which would engage it in a general contest and lay it open 
to side blows as well as direct attacks. With this view a 
great many amendments and inquiries were prepared to be 
offered in the Senate, all of them proper or plausible, recom- 
mendable in themselves and supported by acceptable reasons, 
which the friends of the bank must either answer or reject 
without answer, and so incur odium. In the House it was 
determined to make a move which, whether resisted or ad- 
mitted by the bank majority, would be certain to have an 
effect against the institution — namely, an investigation by a 
committee of the House as provided in the charter. If the 



180 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

investigation was denied, it would be guilt shrinking from 
detection ; if admitted, it was well known that misconduct 
would be found. I conceived this movement and had charge 
of its direction." 

This plan was diligently prosecuted. Two things were 
certain : the recharter would be passed by both Houses, and 
the President would veto it. All the operations of both 
parties, therefore, had for their exclusive object the produc- 
tion of campaign material. Under these circumstances, had 
any one desired an impartial, accurate, and exhaustive in- 
vestigation and presentation of the subject, necessary to the 
complete solution and settlement of a momentous question 
of national finance, it could not have been accomplished. 
One party was bound to continue the bank at all hazards ; 
the other, to destroy it. Any means that promised utility 
to either of the combatants was certain to be employed. 

Inasmuch as the several prior reports of committees went 
for naught, and as neither of the committees to which the 
memorial of the bank had been referred was directed to 
conduct a detailed inquiry into the management and condi- 
tion of the bank, the appointment of a select committee for 
that purpose was moved in the House. Benton had drawn 
the charges and specifications, twenty-two in number, and 
they were boldly preferred by the member who made the 
motion for a committee. After an acrimonious discussion, 
in which it soon developed, as had been foreseen, that the 
partisans of the bank deemed it impolitic to prevent the in- 
vestigation, the committee was appointed. It spent some 
time in taking evidence, and then made three reports. The 
majority report was against the bank, the minority reports — 
one of which was drawn by John Quincy Adams, who began 
his remarkable career in the House at the preceding session 



Ch. V.] JACKSON'S REASONS FOR THE VETO 181 

— were in its favor. Though most of the charges were not 
adequately sustained by proof, sufficient maladministration 
— and it required but little — was shown to exist as to 
affect the public mind. But above all now stood out as 
it had never done before the dangerous possibilities of a 
gigantic financial corporation invested with functions that 
should alone be exercised by the government. 

The bill to recharter the bank on essentially the old plan 
was in due time reported to the Senate. After a protracted 
debate over separate provisions and proposed amendments, 
it was passed. According to the programme, it went 
through the House without much delay. No doubt when 
it reached the President the veto message was ready. The 
space of six days, during which he held the bill, was suited 
to the double effect he desired to produce — the appearance 
of respectful consideration, yet unhesitating decision. 

The message contained little that w T as new to the contro- 
versy, but presented the old arguments best adapted for 
popular effect. It was the perfection of political art, to 
which even its errors contributed. 

The President favored a bank, but not this bank. The 
monopoly bestowed by the original charter operated as a 
gratuity of many millions by greatly increasing the value of 
the stock. The renewal would still further improve the 
stock to fifty per centum above its par value, rendering the 
market value of the monopoly $17,000,000. " It appears," 
said the message, " that more than one-fourth of the stock 
is held by foreigners, and the residue by a few hundreds 
of our own citizens, chiefly of the richest class. For their 
benefit does this act exclude the whole American people 
from competition in the purchase of this monopoly, and dis- 
pose of it for many millions less than it is worth. ... If our 



182 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

government must sell monopolies, it would seem to be its 
duty to take nothing less than their full value ; and if gratui- 
ties must be made once in fifteen or twenty years, let them 
not be bestowed on the subjects of a foreign government 
nor upon a designated and favored class of men in our own 
country." 

That the termination of the existing charter might cause 
embarrassment by requiring the bank to call in its loans 
was no reason for the renewal of the charter ; otherwise 
the bank might justly claim to be perpetual. Besides, there 
was ample time for it to close its business "without distress- 
ing: its debtors; if it caused distress the fault would be its 
own. The proposed modifications of the charter were of 
little value or importance. " All the objectionable principles 
of the existing corporation, and most of its odious features, 
were retained without alleviation." The provision that the 
paper of the bank, though made payable at one place, should 
nevertheless be received at any of the branches if tendered 
in liquidation of a balance due from any other incorporated 
bank, would give to the banks a privilege withheld from all 
private citizens, and was therefore " most odious, because it 
did not measure equal justice to the high and the low, the 
rich and the poor." Several forcible considerations were 
presented against the holding of stock by foreigners, both 
as to the effect upon taxation of the stock under the proposed 
provisions, and the dangers that might attend the control by 
aliens of the finances of the nation. Then followed an argu- 
ment against the constitutionality of the scheme, a part of 
which was directed to showing that the provisions would 
result in exempting a large portion of the stock and all the 
property of the bank from taxation. 

The message referred to the charges against the bank 



Ch. V.] JUST TEACHINGS IN JACKSON'S MESSAGE 183 

and spoke of the investigation by the House as too brief 
to be complete and satisfactory. " As the charter had } T et 
four years to run, and as a renewal was not necessary to 
the successful prosecution of its business, it was to be ex- 
pected that the bank itself, conscious of its purity and 
proud of its character, would have withdrawn its applica- 
tion for the present, and demanded the severest scrutiny 
into all its transactions." This furnished another reason 
why the government should proceed with " less haste and 
more caution " in the renewal of the monopoly. Moreover, 
the " executive branches of the government," as the agent 
of which the bank " was professedly established," had no 
need for it ; on the contrary, it was then regarded as " not 
only unnecessary, but dangerous to the government and the 
country." 

The close of the message contains these just and eloquent 
observations, which were not hackneyed then, and probably 
had greater effect on the popular mind than was produced 
by the merely argumentative parts of the document : 

" Distinctions in society will always exist under every 
just government. Equality of talents, of education, or 
wealth cannot be produced by human institutions. In the 
full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven and the fruits of su- 
perior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equal- 
ly entitled to protection by law. But when the laws 
undertake to add to these natural and just advantages arti- 
ficial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive 
privileges, to make the rich richer and the potent more 
powerful, the humble members of society, the farmers, me- 
chanics, and laborers, who have neither the time nor the 
means of securing like favors to themselves, have the 
right to complain of the injustice of their government. 



184 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist 
only in its abuses. If it would confine itself to equal 
protection, and, as heaven does its rains, shower its favors 
alike on the high and the low, the rich and the poor, it 
would be an unqualified blessing. . . . Most of the difficul- 
ties our government now encounters, and most of the dan- 
gers which now impend over our Union, have sprung from 
the abandonment of the legitimate objects of government 
by our national legislation and the adoption of such princi- 
ples xts are embodied in this act. Many of our rich men 
have not been content with equal protection and equal 
benefits, but have besought us to make them richer by acts 
of Congress. By attempting to gratify their desires we 
have, in the results of our legislation, arrayed section 
against section, interest against interest, and man against 
man." 

Strange as it now seems, the message was rapturously re- 
ceived by the Whig party, which industriously aided in cir- 
culating it among the people. The history of politics does 
not exhibit a more preposterous delusion than the idea 
which possessed that party that there would be a popular 
uprising to save the bank from the vindictive tyrant in the 
White House. The whole proceeding was founded on that 
hallucination. The Whig leaders were still blind to the 
forces which had elected Jackson, and which, from the sense 
of mastery they had derived, would thenceforth dominate the 
politics of the country. From Jefferson to Jackson, poli- 
ticians had been little in the habit of considering, so far as 
Presidential elections Avere concerned, how the masses gener- 
ally view any given national policy ; the probable attitude 
of sections and interests had been the main factors in their 
calculations. The men who had organized victory for Jack- 



Ch. V.] CLAY ATTACKS JACKSON'S VETO 185 

son were for the most part an entirely new order of politi- 
cians. Unlike the anti-Jackson leaders, they were free from 
the influence of those ideas and prepossessions usually be- 
gotten by long continuance in public office. They were 
of the people, familiar with the drift of popular sentiment, 
which they constantly and involuntarily consulted. Their 
opponents, oblivious to these new elements or underrating 
them, clung in the pride of their talents to their accustomed 
theories and methods. 

"When the message was received by the Senate the final 
scene in the bank programme was enacted. As the bill 
could not be passed over the veto, the occasion was only of 
spectacular importance; it was the formal appeal of the 
bank to the people. Jackson was denounced as a despot 
and destroyer, and his message was dissected and arraigned 
as no other message except his has ever been. Webster, 1 
Clayton, Ewing, and Clay were the bank's Senatorial 
champions. Clay closed the case for it with a speech that 
was to be taken as his manifesto in the approaching election. 
It was not long, but it displayed deliberation and a nicer ac- 
curacy of phrase than was common with him. He spoke 
with haughty freedom, perhaps more so than became his 
position as Jackson's nominated rival. 

He assailed the veto as the ordinary use of an extraor- 
dinary power. "The veto," said he, "is hardly reconcil- 

1 Martin Van Buren very justly places Hamilton and Clay superior to 
"Webster in "genius and eloquence." "But," he adds, " as a close and 
powerful reasoner, an adroit and wary debater — one capable of taking 
comprehensive and at the same time close views of a subject, who sur- 
veyed all points in his case, the weak as well as the strong, and dealt with 
each in a way best calculated to serve his purpose and to reduce the ad- 
vantage of his antagonist to the lowest allowable point, and who was withal 
unscrupulous in the employment of his great powers — he was in his day 
unsurpassed." — Political Parties in the United States, p. 319. 



186 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

able with the genius of representative government. It is 
totally irreconcilable with it if it is to be frequently em- 
ployed in respect to the expediency of measures as well as 
their constitutionality. It is a feature of our government 
borrowed from a prerogative of the British king. And 
it is remarkable that in England it has grown obsolete, 
not having been used for upward of a century." Never- 
theless, it is obvious as a legal proposition that since the 
President possesses the unqualified Constitutional right, 
his exercise of it is wholly discretionary. If it were im- 
proper for the President to veto a bill as inexpedient, it 
might be asserted with equal correctness that he should 
not veto a bill as unconstitutional, because the validity of 
laws is to be determined by the courts. Considering the 
veto in its purely legal aspect, as the exercise of a power 
expressly granted by a written constitution, reference to the 
British practice had no force ; for the British constitution 
is chiefly tradition and precedent. Clay's argument, there- 
fore, only went to the propriety of the Constitutional pro- 
vision. Jackson was condemned for doing what his adver- 
saries had forced him to do ; and his action was not in 
opposition to the popular will, but to prevent Congress from 
subverting it, for the charter once granted was irrevocable. 
Despite the propriety of the veto, the argument of the 
message against the constitutionality of the bank could not 
stand. The Supreme Court, in a suit arising under the ex- 
isting charter, had sanctioned the power to establish such 
an institution. Had not the question — which belonged to 
the old radical difference of political opinion as to the lati- 
tude to be given the implied powers of the Constitution — 
been thus authoritatively settled, Jackson's argument, princi- 
pally that of Clay's speech in 1811, would have been legally 



Ch. V.] THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF THE BANK 187 

appropriate. But respect for the law as declared by the 
ultimate tribunal demanded acquiescence. 

Clay did not enter into a general examination of the Con- 
stitutional question. But as his speech in 1811 had been read 
to the Senate during the debate, he was led to speak of his 
change of opinion after the war, and to read extracts from 
his speech in 1816 in justification. He asserted, in contra- 
diction of the statement in the message that Congressional 
precedents as to the constitutionality of a national bank 
were equally divided, that at no time was there a majority 
against the legal power, although bills failed in 1811 and 
1815. Undoubtedly, as he maintained, they failed on other 
grounds. Various other acts in relation to the bank after 
it was established were to be regarded as a practical con- 
struction in favor of the power. 

Jackson's disregard of judicial construction led him to 
announce a doctrine totally indefensible. " Each public 
officer," said the message, " who takes an oath to support 
the Constitution swears that he will support it as he under- 
stands it, and not as it is understood by others. . . . The 
opinion of the judges has no more authority over Congress 
than the opinion of Congress has over the judges ; and on 
that point the President is independent of both." This 
doctrine taken literally would lead to a chaos in adminis- 
tration—the least of its consequences. It was refuted 
by "Webster with grave logic, and rebuked by Clay with 
vivid energy. The only apology for it is that Jackson 
could not have intended precisely what the message made 
him say ; but that the President, in considering bills pre- 
sented to him for approval, should take his own view as 
to whether or not they violate the true spirit of the organic 
law, independent of Congress or the courts. Indeed, the 



188 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

President can seldom perform a better service than to ar- 
rest a tendency to make and uphold laws that depend for 
their validity upon legislative powers practically equivalent 
to the discretion of Congress. But preventing the enactment 
of such laws is entirely different from nullifying them after 
they are enacted and voiding transactions based upon them. 1 
Clay defended the policy of allowing foreigners to hold 
bank stock, which he placed in the same category as the 
stock of other corporations. He also defended the opera- 
tions of the bank against the charge that they were injuri- 
ous to the West, and predicted ruinous consequences if the 
bank should be compelled by the termination of its charter 
to enforce the payment of its Western loans. The mes- 
sage stated that had the Executive been called upon to fur- 
nish the project of a bank that would obviate his objections, 
the duty would have been cheerfully performed. Clay criti- 
cised this with caustic severity. " Does the President," he 
asked, "wish to introduce the initiative here? Are the 
powers of recommendation and that of veto not sufficient? 
Must all legislation, in its commencement and its termina- 
tion, concentrate in the President? When we shall have 
reached that state of things the election and annual sessions 
of Congress will be a useless charge upon the people, and 
the whole business of government may be economically con- 
ducted by ukases and decrees." He closed, as Webster 
did, in a strain of lurid prophecy of the downfall of our 
institutions if the course Jackson had begun were not 
checked, setting a fashion of Whig oratory that was to pre- 
vail for j^ears to come. 



1 See Lincoln's first inaugural address ; Tyler's Taney, p. 410 ; Sumner's 
Works, vol. iii. p. 375 ; Van Buren's Political Parties in Vie United States, 
p. 316. 



Ch. V.] BENTON'S REPLY TO CLAY 189 

Benton at once took the floor. As a campaign speech his 
reply was a skilful performance. His retorts and political 
appeals showed the art of a master. An uninformed stran- 
ger, however, might well have supposed that in any case the 
country was doomed ; for Benton's prediction of a moneyed 
aristocracy and monarchy as the ultimate result of contin- 
uing the bank outvied the prophecies of Webster and Clay. 
The weightiest part of his speech was in answer to the re- 
iterated pleas that the West would be ruined by the dissolu- 
tion of the bank. He asserted that since the subject of re- 
newing the charter had been agitated the bank had increased 
its loans over thirty million dollars. This increase had been 
largely in the politically doubtful states, particularly in the 
South and West, one-third of it being in Louisiana, Kentucky, 
and Ohio. He then referred to certain curtailments recently 
made by some of the Western branches, through the alleged 
dearth of funds, caused mainly by decrease of the public de- 
posits, and pronounced this reason a mere pretence ; for the 
bank had ample funds, and was then increasing its loans in 
other quarters at the rate of $1,250,000 per month. " The 
true reasons," said he, " were political ; a foretaste and pre- 
lude to what is now threatened. It was a measure to press 
the debtors — a turn of the screw upon the borrowers — to 
make them all cry out and join in the clamors and petitions 
for a renewed charter. . . . All this for political effect, and 
to be followed by electioneering fabrication that it was the 
effect of the veto message." Nor was this the only ex- 
pedient adopted by the bank. " Numerous promises for 
new branches," said Benton, " is another trick of the same 
kind. Thirty new branches are said to be in contemplation, 
and about three hundred villages have been induced each to 
believe that itself was the favored spot of location ; but al- 



190 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

ways upon the condition, well understood, that Jackson 
should not be re-elected, and that it should elect a Kepresent- 
ative to vote for the recharter." 

In the course of the speech he intimated that Clay had 
not shown proper courtesy toward the President ; and, as 
soon as he had concluded, Clay responded in a manner that 
would have won admiration in a frontier court-room. It 
led to an angry passage of recriminations that boded an- 
other duel. 1 The question was then put, and the bill failed, 
not receiving the requisite two -thirds vote. On the 16th 
Congress adjourned. The Presidential campaign was begun. 

The contest of 1828 was mild in comparison with it. It 
was scarcely impeded by the cholera, which raged in several 
cities during the summer. Detraction, misrepresentation, 
buncombe, rioted unrestrained. All the slanders and per- 
versions of 1828 were renewed and reinforced. Yet the 
more flagrant characteristics of the campaign, instead of 
denoting, as many supposed, a decline of public morality, 
were due rather to the license naturally attending the novel 
political conditions of the time. It has taken many years to 
lessen the barbarous asperity of Presidential contests ; not 
that the masses have improved in their public morals, but 
that among a very large proportion of the people passionate 
and unbridled partisanship has to a great extent exhausted 
itself. The larger experience of the country has rendered 
the people less emotional in politics ; they have grown more 
wary of the " campaign lie," which has therefore lost much 
of its former efficacy. In 1832, personal vilification was 
not confined to either party ; the epithets and imputations 
with which Jackson was assailed were not less scurrilous 



1 Benton quotes the whole of this fierce colloquy in the Thirty Tears' 
View, vol. i. p. 203. 



Ch. V.] CLAY'S WHOLE POLICY CONDEMNED 191 

and unfounded than those from which Clay suffered. 1 In- 
deed, Jackson doubtless got the worst of it in this regard ; 
for the great majority -of the newspapers were Whig, and 
their columns were constantly laden with all that partisan 
ingenuity could invent. 3 

But apart from these vicious phases of the struggle, the 
important issues involved gave it a character and signif- 
icance that the preceding elections did not possess. And 
each of these issues, although of Clay's own making, worked 
to his detriment. His tariff policy was hateful to the South ; 
his public-lands policy was unsatisfactory to the West ; while 
the bank policy was altogether the most ill-advised political 
issue that could have been conceived. Had there been no 
other question before the people, it alone would have been 
fatal to his success. Aged men long afterward related with 
keen enthusiasm the part they took in "slaying the monster." 
It was in vain to call the " Hero of New Orleans " a public 
enemy ; the question, as it was put, whether he or a gigan- 
tic corporation supported by a moneyed aristocracy were the 
more dangerous to our institutions, could receive but one 
answer by the popular voice. The spectacle of the bank 



1 Hunt's Livingston, p. 369. 

2 " Caricatures, poorly designed and worse executed, were published in 
great numbers in the course of the season. A favorite idea of the carica- 
turists was to depict Mr. Van Buren as an infant in the arms of General 
Jackson, receiving sustenance from a spoon in the hand of the General. 
One popular picture represented the President receiving a crown from Mr. 
Van Buren and a sceptre from the devil. Another showed the President 
raving at a delegation. Another gave Clay and Jackson in the guise of 
jockeys riding a race toward the White House — Clay half a length ahead. 
Another represented Jackson, Van Buren, Benton, Blair, Kendall, and 
others attired as burglars, aiming a huge battering-ram at the bank's im- 
pregnable front door. Another portrayed General Jackson as Don Quixote 
tilting at one of the pillars of the same marble edifice, and breaking his 
puny lance against it." — Parton's Jackson, vol. iii. p. 423. 



192 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

openly using every possible means to preserve its existence 
was the most powerful argument against it. Its conduct 
during the campaign justified the chief objection to such an 
institution. In reaching a correct view of the subject it 
matters not whether Jackson or the bank was the first as- 
sailant, nor what were the motives that led to the issue ; 
that the bank could under any circumstances become the 
subject of a political contest was reason enough why it 
should not exist. 

Many subsequent elections have occasioned much specula- 
tion as to the effect minor things had or might have had in 
determining the result ; but in 1832 the outcome was inevita- 
ble. The Anti-masonic movement figured conspicuously in 
the canvass, but it had no decisive effect. 1 Jackson's election 
was an overwhelming triumph. Clay received but 49 out of 
286 votes. The disparity in the popular vote was not so 
marked, though sufficiently emphatic : Clay received 530,189 
to Jackson's 687,502. The humiliation was intensified by 
Van Buren's election to the Vice-Presidency by nearly the 
same vote. The rejection of his nomination for Minister to 
England had produced precisely the opposite effect from 
that intended. Yet so completely were the Whigs deceived 
that they continued boastfully confident until the result of 
the election was known. And with most of the press and 
the cultivated classes enlisted in the Whig cause the external 
appearances seemed promising. The sentiment of the 
"plain people" had no means of spectacular display: its 
mode of expression was the ballot. 2 



1 Kennedy's Wirt, vol. ii. p. 330. 

3 "An English election, instead of the tranquil, dignified scene we 
•witness in this country, presents nothing but riot and misrule. The open- 
ing of the poll is the signal for the prostration of legal restraint and the 



Cii. V.] THE QUESTION OF NULLIFICATION 193 

A man of less elastic temperament than Clay would have 
been disheartened by the utter defeat he had sustained. 
Under less vigorous and alluring leadership his party would 
have been long in recovering from its total rout. But 
acutely as he felt the defeat, he wrote and spoke of it stoi- 
cally. For some time his health had not been good. In April 
he wrote to a friend : " Naturally ardent, perhaps too ardent, 
I cannot avoid being too much excited and provoked at the 
scenes of tergiversation, hypocrisy, degeneracy, and corrup- 
tion which are daily exhibited. I would fly from them and 
renounce forever public life if I were not restrained by a sen- 
timent of duty and of attachment to my friends. ... I will 
endeavor to moderate my interest in public affairs." Never- 
theless, he did not curb his political zeal. Congress reassem- 
bled December 3. A few days later he appeared on the scene. 

The topic of the hour was " nullification." The excite- 
ment of the Presidential election had merged in that which 
the attitude of South Carolina had aroused. The dissatis- 
faction of the South generally with the tariff of 1828 had 
been driven wellnigh to exasperation by the tariff of 
1832; but in none of the Southern States, except South 
Carolina, had the anti-protection sentiment led to any new 
mode of opposition. The novelty of nullification was con- 
fined to that State. This unique doctrine, first promulgated 
in 1828, had rapidly matured to action. Before the tariff of 
1832 was enacted the course of the State was virtually de- 
cided ; the people were at least two to one in favor of nulli- 



commencement of the reign of anarchy. The contest frequently lasts for 
several days, and during this time the unfortunate borough is given over 
to the mob. The shops are all closed — business is at an end — parties at- 
tracted to the different candidates are parading the streets and frequently 
meeting, when desperate battles are sure to ensue." — North American Re- 
view, vol. xiii. p. 356. 
13 



194 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

fication. In November a convocation in the nature of a con- 
stitutional convention, which had been regularly called and 
empowered, adopted an ordinance declaring the acts of 1828 
and 1832 null and void, and prohibiting the payment of any 
duties under them within the State after February 1, 1833. 
It made any appeal to the Supreme Court of the United 
States touching the validity of the ordinance a penal offence ; 
and required all State officers, civil and military, and all jurors, 
to take an oath to support the ordinance. It further assert- 
ed the determination to maintain the ordinance at every 
hazard, and threatened secession from the Union if any at- 
tempt were made to coerce the State. 

In his annual message, December 4, the President de- 
voted but one short paragraph directly to the subject. He 
merely stated that " in one quarter of the United States 
opposition to the revenue laws had risen to a height which 
threatened to thwart their execution, if not to endanger the 
integrity of the Union," but that it was hoped to overcome 
peaceably any obstructions that might be thrown in the way 
of the judicial authorities ; and in any case it was believed 
that the laws themselves were fully adequate to the suppres- 
sion of such attempts as might immediately be made. But 
the preceding part of the message bore indirectly upon the 
question, which was the only shadow upon the general pict- 
ure of harmony and prosperity presented by this politic 
paper. The entire public debt was to be extinguished dur- 
ing the ensuing year ; this would permit a reduction of the 
revenue, as proposed by the Secretary of the Treasury. 
Then followed some judicious and carefully guarded consid- 
erations against the protective system, with the recommen- 
dation that " the whole scheme of duties be reduced to the 
revenue standard as soon as just regard to the faith of the 



Ch. V.] SOUTHERN CLAIMS CONCEDED 195 

government and to the preservation of the large capital in- 
vested in the establishments of domestic industry will per- 
mit." In short, while the administration meant to execute 
the laws and to preserve the Union, it admitted the justice 
of the Southern complaints, and proposed to ameliorate the 
cause of them. These views on the tariff indicated Jack- 
son's abandonment of the protective system, to which he 
had not until then been avowedly opposed, although grad- 
ually tending in that direction. In his messages prior to 
that of December, 1831, he had expressed himself as favor- 
ing protection to a moderate degree ; but he then advised a 
reduction of the revenue, in consequence of the approaching 
extinguishment of the public debt. It was on this theory, 
to some extent, that he had approved the act of 1832. Thus 
far, however, the tariff question had not materially entered 
into the Jacksonian policy. 

Considered as a whole, the message was apparently as 
favorable to South Carolina as the most hopeful nulliiier 
could reasonably expect ; for not only was the avowed policy 
of the administration pledged to a reduction of the tariff, 
but all the principles laid down in the message relating to 
the powers of tae government were those of the strict-con- 
struction school. It was a thoroughly Democratic docu- 
ment. The Whigs thought it the complete espousal of the 
extreme State-rights doctrine. But in this they were mis- 
taken. Its true meaning and its consummate art were not 
perceived until six days later, when the President's procla- 
mation to the people of South Carolina appeared. 

The leading arguments of this celebrated manifesto were 
drawn from Webster's reply to Hayne, 1 in 1830, denying 

1 Benton gives an appreciative sketch of Hayne in the TJiirty Tears' 
View, vol. ii. p. 186. See also Life of Silliman, vol. ii. p. 119. 



196 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

that the Constitution forms a league and not a nation, and 
that it is incompetent for a State lawfully to annul an act 
of Congress or to withdraw from the Union. The people 
of South Carolina were eloquently adjured to retrace their 
steps and warned that the Constitution and the Union would 
be maintained even at the cost of blood. 

The fact that no Southern State would join South Caro- 
lina 1 might suggest that the Northern sentiment against 
nullification was intense. It was so. Politics was quite 
forgotten in the patriotic fervor with which the President's 
proclamation was greeted throughout the North. The im- 
petuous loyalty to the Union there exhibited might well have 
terrified South Carolina in her wayward course. The de- 
termination and unanimity of the opposition were a surprise 
to the leaders of the nullification movement, who expected 
some degree of co-operation in the South and no vigorous 
and general resistance in the North ; and undoubtedly this 
result influenced their subsequent action. No small share 
of Jackson's peculiar fame at the present day is due to the 
effect produced by that proclamation. 

Clay, of course, was in no mood to join in the fervid ap- 
proval of the President. Two days after tL? proclamation 
he wrote in a letter with somewhat of petulance : " One 
short week produced the message and the proclamation — the 
former ultra on the side of State-rights, the latter ultra on 
the side of consolidation. How they can be reconciled I 
must leave to our Virginia friends. As to the proclamation, 
although there are some good things in it, especially as to 

1 The legislatures of Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, and North Carolina 
declared against the doctrine of nullification. The Virginia legislature sent 
Leigh as a commissioner to counsel moderation, and he accordingly ad- 
dressed the South Carolina legislature. Cass, Secretary of War, at once or- 
dered troops to Charleston. — Smith's Cass, pp. 269, 274. 



Ch. V.] THE VERPLANCK BILL 197 

what relates to the judiciary, there are some entirely too 
ultra for me and which I cannot stomach. A proclamation 
should have been issued weeks ago, but I think it should have 
been a different paper from the present, which, I apprehend, 
will irritate instead of aiding any excited feeling." 1 

Meantime Calhoun resigned the Vice-Presidency and was 
elected to the Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resig- 
nation of Hayne, who had become Governor of South Caro- 
lina. The State showed no sign of receding from its posi- 
tion. Its strongest men were at the front. Though Calhoun 
took the most responsible and arduous post, he was sup- 
ported by the whole machinery of the State government, 
Hayne boldly issuing a proclamation of defiance, and the 
legislature adopting a series of resolutions to the same effect. 
January 16, the President sent to Congress another mes- 
sage. It was a long one, accompanied by all the documents 
relating to the subject. It closed by recommending various 
legislation, including a grant of additional powers to the 
Executive to enforce the collection of duties. On the 21st 
a bill in compliance with the message was reported to the 
Senate. On the next day, Calhoun met the whole issue by 
introducing a set of resolutions declaring his theory of the 
nature and powers of the government. 

Soon after the opening of the session the Verplanck bill, 
as it was called, was introduced in the House. It was an 
administration measure, framed on the recommendation of 
the President's annual message and the report of the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury. Its avowed object was to reduce 
the revenue from $27,000,000, which had been the aver- 
age annual income of the government for several years 

1 To Tyler he pronounced it an " ultra-Federal black cockade." — Letters 
and Times of the Tylers, vol. iii. p. To. See also Life of Story, vol. ii. p. 121. 



198 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

preceding the tariff of 1832, to $15,000,000 within two years. 
The latter tariff had effected some reduction, though not 
nearly so much as had been expected ; but it was estimated 
that the proposed bill would work a further reduction of 
$7,000,000. "To the great opponents of the tariff (the 
South Carolina school)," says Benton, who unquestionably 
states the views of the subject then entertained by the ad- 
ministration, "it was also bound to be satisfactoiy, as it 
carried back the whole system of duties to the standard at 
which that school had fixed them, with the great amelio- 
ration of the arbitrary and injurious minimums. The bill, 
then, seemed bound to conciliate every fair interest — the 
government, because it gave all the revenue it needed ; the 
real manufacturers, because it gave them an adequate inci- 
dental protection ; the South, because it gave them their 
own bill, and that ameliorated." It was assiduously de- 
bated until Clay's " compromise bill " was suddenly pro- 
jected into the House. 

Between the demands of the nullifiers and the policy of 
the administration the protective system was in extreme 
jeopardy. Should the inevitable revision of the tariff be 
made by the enemies or the friends of protection? To 
this question Clay had at once addressed himself. In De- 
cember he visited Philadelphia, where, after conferring with 
various manufacturers, he devised a plan of adjusting the 
controversy. He then submitted it to a few of his immedi- 
ate friends, and also to Webster and Calhoun. The former 
refused, but the latter determined to support it. The combi- 
nation of Clay and Calhoun would ensure its passage. 

The political career of no other public man of that event- 
ful period inspires the candid student with such mingled 
feelings of respect and regret as Calhoun's. He entered 



Ch. V.] CALHOUN LEADS THE WAE PARTY 199 

the arena of national politics in 1811, in his thirtieth year, 
after a brief service in the South Carolina legislature. He 
was a graduate of Yale College, and finished his law studies 
at Litchfield. He began the practice of law, but did not 
long continue it ; a competency relieved him of that neces- 
sity. His instinctive interest in public affairs, which indeed 
was conspicuously displayed in college, soon led him into 
public life. Able men were quickly recognized in the South, 
and seldom experienced much difficulty in procuring and re- 
taining seats in Congress — a fact that accounts for the uni- 
form superiority in talents and training of the Southern 
members, as a class, over the Northern. 

He at once took a leading position in the House. He 
was eager for war ; and Clay, quick to appreciate his ability 
and alliance, assigned him to the most appropriate place — on 
the Committee on Foreign Eelations, from which emanated 
the declaration of war. In this capacity he became the lead- 
er of the war party on the floor of the House. His only 
difference with that party was in regard to the restrictive 
S} r stem, which he strenuously opposed. After the war he 
zealously co-operated with Clay in his entire domestic pro- 
gramme — a national bank, a protective tariff, and extensive 
internal improvements. Nor did Clay ever go to greater 
lengths in advocating those policies than Calhoun went at 
that period. The Constitution then offered no obstacles to 
him. All his views were characterized by the utmost lib- 
erality and freedom from sectional interest. The nation and 
a strong national government were the prime objects of 
his solicitude. He was much admired generally for his per- 
sonal and intellectual qualities. His style of speech was 
pure, poised, and strong. It did not possess the eloquent 
energy and fervor of Clay's, nor the terseness and solid 



200 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

power of "Webster's, yet it had more elegance and finish than 
either. During this period he freely employed historical 
illustrations and evinced a strong tendency to general- 
ize. His early speeches are interspersed with philosophic 
maxims and comments which indicate the wide and pro- 
found thought he bestowed upon the subjects of his atten- 
tion in all their relations ; and so marked is this trait as 
to suggest familiarity with the works of Edmund Burke. 
These qualities of style and method, however, he gradually 
relinquished, until his speeches became, for the most part, 
the naked exposition of his own reasoning undeviatingly 
directed to the subject before him. 

In 1817 he became Secretary of War under Monroe, and 
retained that post until he entered upon the duties of Vice- 
President in 1825. During this time his political and eco- 
nomic opinions underwent no change ; they were emphati- 
cally reiterated whenever occasion offered. He now openly 
aspired to the Presidency. Though his administration of 
the "War Department received some criticism, mostly due 
to the warm rivalry of Presidential candidates during the 
political chaos of Monroe's last term, he had gained ground 
in popular favor. While it was soon manifest that he could 
not succeed Monroe, it was equally clear that he would be 
raised to the second place. But, unknown to the political 
world, there had been sown the seeds of a difficulty that was 
to frustrate the great ambition of his life. 

He was elected Yice-President by a combination of the 
Adams and Jackson electors, probably because of his neu- 
trality. But as soon as the effect of Adams's election by the 
House became apparent, Calhoun joined the opposition. Dis- 
cerning Jackson's rising star, he sought its auspicious in- 
fluence. The prospect seemed flattering. He was re-elected 



Ch. V.] JACKSON'S ENMITY TOWARD CALHOUN 201 

with Jackson in 1823. Nevertheless, the catastrophe was 
close at hand. Soon came the disclosure of the fact, until 
then kept secret, that as Secretary of War he had favored 
the proposed censure of Jackson for his proceedings in the 
Seminole war. This was followed by the disruption of the 
cabinet, the banishment of Calhoun's adherents, and the 
plain indication that Van Buren was destined to the Presi- 
dential succession. 

Another cause of dislike, however, had been working in 
Jackson's mind. Calhoun had concurred in the Southern 
hostility to the tariffs of 1821 and 1S28 : he could not have 
done otherwise and be countenanced in the South. That 
course once taken, he labored with all his might to make the 
cause succeed. Naturally he was regarded as the leader-in- 
chief. The " South Carolina Exposition," adopted by the 
legislature of that State in 1828, and the first formal decla- 
ration of the doctrine of nullification, was his handiwork. 
Though couched in rather vague and covert terms, it found 
no favor with Jackson. Calhoun undoubtedly believed that 
Jackson would cast his influence against protection ; but he 
utterly mistook Jackson if he imagined that he would tol- 
erate any scheme that savored of disunion. Events now rap- 
idly conspired to put Calhoun hopelessly without the pale of 
Presidential possibility. The Ilayne-Webster debate took 
place in January, 1830, Hayne being, as every one knew, the 
spokesman on his side, because Calhoun was not in a posi- 
tion to speak. In April following a banquet in celebration 
of Jefferson's birthday was held at Washington. It was at- 
tended by many leading Democrats, including Jackson and 
Calhoun. The tenor of the toasts and speeches indicated 
that the affair had been arranged to promote principally the 
nullification movement. After the regular speeches, the 



202 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

President was invited to propose a toast. He did so, and 
in a manner that left no doubt as to his sentiments on 
the subject — "The Union: It must be preserved." Cal- 
houn gave the next toast — " The Union : Next to our lib- 
erty the most dear : may we all remember that it can 
only be preserved by respecting the rights of the States 
and distributing equally the benefit and burthen of the 
Union." 

The die was cast. As a candidate for President, Calhoun 
was undone; and no one recognized it more clearly than 
himself. Henceforth he was the political head of the slave 
interest, acting apart from the two great parties, except as 
particular objects led him into temporary combinations. He 
took up the work where the disjointed efforts of Randolph 
had left it, and pursued it with fanatical energy to his latest 
day. Politics and personal interests no longer influenced 
him. He had become a changed man. From the broadest 
latitudinarianism he had gone to the opposite extreme. 
Without motive to temporize or dissemble, or occasion to 
deceive himself, he saw the inevitable result that was to 
come from the divergent elements then taking undisguised 
form and force. While he did not devote his labors to cause 
disunion, he strove in every way to protect and strengthen 
the institution of slavery and its political power. Yet his 
course cannot be justly charged to vindictiveness. He was 
the victim of circumstance. With a wonderfully acute, ana- 
lytical, and subtly logical mind, it was a necessity with 
him to carry to the last result the conclusion that his en- 
forced premises required. His manner gradually assumed 
a cold and distant dignity. His intense, sustained thought, 
the consciousness of his isolated position, and the per- 
petual struggle against odds creased and hardened his 



Cn. V.] CLAY INTRODUCES THE COMPROMISE BILL 203 

visage, upon which dwelt the shadow of his thwarted 
hopes. 1 

On February 12, Clay asked leave to introduce his tariff 
bill. Having given notice of his purpose the day before, 
he had a large and eager audience to hear his explanatory 
speech. He professed two objects — to save the protective 
system from the destruction designed by the administration 
in any event, and to allay the South Carolina outbreak, and 
thus prevent the calamities that might follow it in conse- 
quence of the general Southern discontent. " I am anxious," 
said he, " to find some principle of mutual accommodation, 
to satisfy, as far as practicable, both parties — to increase the 
stability of our legislation, and at some distant day — but not 
too distant — to bring down the rate of duties to the revenue 
standard for which our opponents have so long contended." 
This basis was to be one of time. His plan was to reach 
the revenue standard in a little less than ten years. One- 
tenth of the excess of duties above twenty per centum ad 



1 For the less familiar sources of this sketch of Calhoun, see Life of 
Silliman, vol. i. p. 309 ; Webster's Works, vol. v. p. 369 ; Tyler's Taney, p. 
185 ; Kennedy's Wirt, vol. ii. p. 101 ; Life of Story, vol. i. p. 426 ; Quincy's 
Figures of the Past, p. 264 j Adams's Diary, vol. v. p. 361 ; vol. vii. p. 447 ; 
vol. viii. p. 536 ; vol. ix. p. 461 ; Godwin's Bryant, vol. i. p. 268 ; Marti- 
neau's Retrospect of Western Travel, vol. i. p. 147. " His head was long 
rather than broad, the ears were placed low upon it, the depth from front 
to back was very great ; his forehead was low, steep, and beetled squarely 
over the most glorious pair of yellow-brown, shining eyes that seemed to 
have a light inherent in themselves ; they looked steadily out from under 
bushy eyebrows that made the deep sockets look still more shrunken. 
He lowered them less than any one I have ever seen ; they were steadily 
bent on the object with which he was engaged ; indeed on some people 
they had an almost mesmeric power. . . . No dignity could be more su- 
preme than Sir. Calhoun's. . . . He always appeared to me rather as a 
moral and mental abstraction than a politician, and it was impossible, know- 
ing him well, to associate him with mere personal ambition. His theories 
and his sense of duty alone dominated him." — Memoir of Jefferson Davis, 
pp. 209-211. 



204 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1832 

valorem was to be removed after September, 1833; one- 
tenth biennially thereafter until 1841 ; one-half of the re- 
maining excess the following year; and the residue the 
next. If in 1842 there should be a surplus of revenue, it 
could be devoted to internal improvements. The free list 
was to be somewhat extended, and the credit system, which 
had always obtained, was to be abolished. 1 In case of war 
or other emergency, Congress was to be at liberty to lay 
whatever duties it saw fit. "While there could be no abso- 
lute guarantee that the scheme would be held inviolate dur- 
ing the proposed period, there was a practical assurance 
that it would be. " If the measure," he argued, "should be 
carried by the consent of all parties, we shall have sufficient 
security ; history will faithfully record the transaction ; nar- 
rate under what circumstances the bill was passed ; that it 
was a pacifying measure ; that it was oil poured from the 
vessel of the Union to restore peace and harmony to the 
country. When all this is done, what Congress, what legis- 
lature, will mar the guarantee ? "What man who is entitled 
to deserve the character of an American statesman would 
stand up in his place and disturb this treaty of peace and 
amity ?" He also contended, to appease the stubborn parti- 
sans of protection, that his plan was not the abandonment 
of that system. It was at most provisional, to allow differ- 
ences of opinion to be adjusted. After 1842, any plan could 
be adopted that circumstances and the demands of the peo- 
ple might dictate. The bill did " not touch the power of 
protection"; on the contrary, the free admission of raw 
materials distinctly " extended and upheld " it. As reluc- 



1 "For eighteen or twenty years, John Jacob Astor had what was 
actually a free-of-interest loan from the government of over five millions 
of dollars. "—Barrett's Old Merchants of New York (first series), p. 32. 



Ch.V.] the arguments AGAINST NULLIFICATION 205 

tantly as he yielded so much of what he held to be the true 
method of protection — raising the necessary revenue " from 
the protected and not from the unprotected articles — it was 
preferable to the immediate and total destruction of the 
policy." 

Such were the leading ideas of his exposition of the bill. 
His reasoning thus far was wisely tempered and judicious. 
But to meet the rebuke that his plan was a surrender to the 
threats of South Carolina was a more difficult task. His 
treatment of this phase of the matter partook of forensic 
ingenuity. Although he pronounced the course of South 
Carolina " rash, intemperate, and greatly in error," he sought 
to palliate it on the theory that the State was not really 
threatening forcible resistance, but was appealing to law. 
" From one end to the other of this continent," said he, " by 
acclamation, as it were, nullification has been put down in a 
manner more effectual than by a thousand armies : by the 
irresistible force, by the mighty influence of public opinion. 
Not a voice beyond the single State of South Carolina has 
been heard in favor of nullification, which she has asserted 
by her ordinance ; and I will say that she must fail in her 
lawsuit." 

His argument against peaceable nullification was brief, 
and practical rather than Constitutional. It is not possible, 
he maintained, to devise a system of State legislation that 
cannot be successfully counteracted by federal legislation. 
Congress is expressly empowered to pass all laws necessary 
to carry into effect the powers vested in the government. 
If the government be administered with prudence and pro- 
priety, the responsibility of employing force must rest with 
the State government. " I am ready," said he, " to give 
the tribunals and the Executive of the country, whether 



206 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1833 

that Executive has or has not my confidence, the necessary- 
measure of power to execute the laws of the Union. But I 
would not go a hair's-breadth farther than what was neces- 
sary for those purposes." According to the apologetic view 
he had taken, South Carolina was doing no more than Ohio 
had done in attempting to tax the branch of the bank in 
that State, and no more than Virginia had done in attempt- 
ing to deprive the federal courts of jurisdiction in cases 
arising under certain lottery laws. Moreover, the 1st of 
February was passed. South Carolina had practically post- 
poned the operation of the ordinance, and if the question 
were not at once settled she would further postpone it. It 
was impossible, for various practical reasons which he re- 
counted, that she should wish to become a separate and 
independent state. If the existence of the ordinance were 
a sufficient motive for not passing the bill, she could defeat 
all legislation by postponing the ordinance from time to 
time. The condition of South Carolina was only one of the 
elements that rendered it expedient to resort at that ses- 
sion to some measure to tranquillize the country. He closed 
with a persuasive appeal. 

The motion for leave to introduce the bill was stoutly 
opposed by several Senators, Webster being the most aggres- 
sive and formidable. 1 He did not content himself with 
merely announcing his disapproval of the bill and then 
awaiting the opportunity of debate upon it, but on the next 
day he offered an elaborate set of resolutions declaring 
against the scheme. Calhoun, on the other hand, at once 
gave evidence of his partnership in the design to compro- 
mise by expressing his entire approbation of the "object" 



1 Curtis's Webster, vol. i. p. 443 ; Clay's Correspondence, pp. 351, 352. 



Ch. v.] the revenue collection BILL DEBATE 207 

and "general principles" of the bill. Nor was Jackson 
averse. 1 

The motion was successful, and the bill was referred to 
a select committee, of which Clay was made chairman. It 
was reported on the 19th. Meantime the debate on the 
revenue collection bill grew more heated. It was in con- 
nection with this subject that Calhoun, on the 15th, de- 
livered his notable speech in exposition of the doctrine of 
nullification. It was immediately answered by Webster, in 
a speech that, as a legal argument, is superior to his reply to 
Hayne. Even to those most friendly at the present day to 
the theory of the utmost rights of the States consistent with 
the nationality of the Union in purely national concerns, it 
is remarkable that so fine and strong a mind as Calhoun's 
should have evolved and advocated with all its powers so 
impracticable a theory as nullification. Whatever the opin- 
ion as to the origin of the leading features of the Constitu- 
tion, the ultimate question involved in the controversy was 
simply as to where the power was vested to pronounce 
upon the constitutionality of laws. From any possible 
point of view, the doctrine that a State can exercise that 
power as a finality is to render the Constitution merely the 
evidence of a provisional acquiescence in a national govern- 
ment that shall cease in and over any State at its own dis- 
cretion. 

During the early years of the Constitution there was 
diversity of opinion as to the fundamental nature of the 
national organism — whether it is a dissoluble compact be- 
tween sovereign States or a perpetually consolidated nation- 
ality. This necessarily arose from the extraordinary con- 



1 Jackson to Hamilton, February 23, 1833. 



208 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1833 

ditions that produced it, the divergent purposes that enter- 
ed into it, and hence the novelty of the political system it 
created. In the nature of things it could not have been other- 
wise. Fortunately the question was almost wholly specula- 
tive ; no actual and general emergency had arisen to compel 
its practical determination. The subjects of difference were 
settled as merely political questions. The Virginia and 
Kentucky resolutions and the proceedings of the Hartford 
Convention, subsequently cited as authorities, are to be re- 
garded, so far as they may seem to warrant the theory of 
Constitutional nullification and secession, as little else than 
obiter dicta, inasmuch as there was no real design to ac- 
complish more than an emphatic protest, for political effect, 
against objectionable acts of the government. The evolu- 
tion of the principles of the original Democratic party lay 
in the distinct separation of the functions of State and federal 
government, giving to each its true sphere and operation — 
preserving the autonomy of the States, yet maintaining ade- 
quate national power and dignity. The gradual growth of 
the national sentiment is, perhaps, no better illustrated than 
by the changed use of the word " Union." Until after the 
civil war it was the common appellation of the United 
States. It has since assumed a poetic significance, and is 
mostly employed for sentiment or euphony. 

To the last the revenue collection bill encountered bitter 
opposition. It was branded as the " force bill " and the 
" bloody bill," and denounced with extreme asperity even 
after the Compromise was virtually assured and the bill thus 
rendered hardly more in practical effect than a mere decla- 
ration of principle. While little was openly said, the deep- 
er motive of the opposition was plainly insinuated — it was 
the practical beginning of the struggle to fortify the slave 



Ch.VL] CLAY'S INTEREST IN THE BANK 223 

foreseen, and that the advantage of the affair would lie 
with him ought to have been. 1 

For several days after this incident the time of the Senate 
was mostly given to organizing the standing committees and 
to other preliminary and routine business. Clay was elected 
to but one committee — Public Lands — and was not made 
chairman of that. This was undoubtedly from choice, so 
that his functions of leadership might not be interfered 
with. He was almost invariably present during the sessions 
of the Senate, and participated in the discussion of nearly 
every question of any importance that arose. His exten- 
sive experience usually gave controlling weight to his views 
when the subjects were not political. When politics was 
concerned his opinions were practically law to his side. 

Meantime he was perfecting his preparations for the 
main assault. On the 18th he offered resolutions calling on 
the Secretary of the Treasury for further specified informa- 
tion in regard to the deposits question. They were amend- 
ed next day on Benton's motion, so as to call for additional 
facts. In explaining his reasons for submitting the resolu- 
tions, Clay severely criticised Taney, who, he alleged, had 
erroneously cited Crawford as an authority for controlling 
the deposits. But especial interest was given the speech 
by his statement of his past relations with the bank. It 
had been charged that he had a pecuniary interest in sup- 
porting the bank. He said that he had not subscribed for 
any of the stock when the bank was created, and did not 
own any until a few years afterward, when five shares were 
purchased for him and he was made a director without con- 
sultation. He paid for the shares, but soon afterward ceased 



1 Adams's Diary, vol. ix. p. 51. 



224 TIIE JACKSOXIAX EPOCH [1833 

to be a director and sold his stock. Since then he had not 
owned a single share. At one period he had acted as 
counsel for the bank in a large amount of litigation, and 
had received the usual compensation, and no more. He had 
also owed the bank in consequence of the failure of a friend 
whose paper he had endorsed. But he had paid the debt 
and had not acted as counsel for the bank during the pre- 
vious eight years. 

At the beginning of the session the President nominated 
the five government directors of the bank as provided by the 
charter. Four of them had already served a year, and being 
friendly to the administration had brought to light some 
facts showing misconduct on the part of the bank ; and 
these facts had been used in the minority report of the 
investigating committee and in the paper read by the 
President to his cabinet. The four nominees were imme- 
diately rejected. The President then replied in a message 
arguing the propriety of the nominations and returning the 
names. The message and renominations were referred to the 
Finance Committee. The report was adverse and grounded 
on the absolute right of the Senate to reject all nominations 
in its discretion without giving reasons. The report was 
adopted. The debates, having taken place in executive 
session, were not published ; but the action of the Senate 
heightened the animosity of the contending parties. 

December 26, Clay opened the great debate of the session 
in the presence of a crowded and eager audience. The 
speech was in support of two resolutions which he submitted 
at the outset. They were as follows : 

" Resolved, That by dismissing the late Secretary of the 
Treasury because he would not, contrary to his sense of his 
own duty, remove the money of the United States on deposit 



C.i. V.] THE MANUFACTURERS AND COMPROMISE 209 

interest. Clay did not speak on the subject. He could not 
well have voted against the bill, and he withdrew before 
the vote was taken. The bill was passed by the Senate on 
the 20th, the day after Clay, from the select committee, re- 
ported the compromise bill. 

"When the proposed Compromise was first announced the 
manufacturing interests were stricken with consternation. 
That Clay should propose it confounded them. Et tu, 
Brute! Their representatives hastened to Washington to 
remonstrate ; but on learning the true situation many of 
them were converted : a half-loaf was better than no bread. 
When the bill was reported, various amendments to it were 
proposed, the principal one being to adopt home valuation 
instead of foreign, which had alwa} T s prevailed. The im- 
portance of this amendment, although not to take effect 
until 1842, is shown by a remark Clay made years after- 
ward. " Give me," said he, " but the power of fixing the 
valuation of the goods, and I care little, in comparison, what 
may be the rate of duties you propose." 

The amendment at once provoked violent opposition. It 
was pronounced unconstitutional, because of the inequality 
of its effect, goods being cheaper in the Northern than in the 
Southern markets; and besides this, was the possibility that 
the duties themselves might be made to enter into the valu- 
ation. The obnoxious feature had not formed a part of the 
original scheme, and Calhoun revolted. Amid great excite- 
ment he announced that if it were insisted upon he would 
not support the bill. Clayton, who was mainly instrumen- 
tal in proposing the amendment, moved to table the bill. 
Under the circumstances, if this were done, the bill would 
have been killed. He was induced to withdraw the motion. 
After an ineffectual attempt to qualify the amendment, an 

14 



210 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1833 

adjournment was taken. But the contrivers of the amend- 
ment remained inexorable. The next day, Calhoun ac- 
quiesced, veiling his coercion with the thin pretext that he 
felt himself "justified in concluding" that no valuation 
would be adopted that would come in conflict with the 
Constitution, and that the duties would not form an element 
of the valuation. This was on the 22d. 

The debate proceeded. The Constitutional objection was 
now raised that a revenue bill could not originate in the 
Senate ; but instead of its operating to obstruct the bill, it 
hastened its success by prompting a coup -de -main. But 
few days of the session remained. Whatever was done 
must be done quickly. On the 25th a motion was made in 
the House by Letcher 1 to strike out all after the enacting 
clause of the Verplanck bill, which was still under debate, 
and substitute the Senate bill. None but those favorable 
to this extraordinary operation had notice of it. Without 
regard to the astonished protests of the opposition, the de- 
sign was accomplished. This occurred late in the afternoon 
of Tuesday. The next clay debate was stifled by carrying 
the previous question. The bill was then passed, 119 to 85. 
It was at once taken up by the Senate, and on Friday, 
March 1, passed, 29 to 16. On the preceding Wednesday 
the House passed the force bill. On Saturday both bills 
were signed by the President. On the 16th the South 
Carolina Convention, which had adjourned to that time, re- 
pealed the ordinance, but adopted another against the force 
bill — a harmless fulmination for spectacular effect. 

Whatever the opinion concerning the wisdom of the Com- 



1 Concerning Letcher, who was one of Clay's chief lieutenants in both 
compromises, see Life of Cassius M. Clay, vol. i. p. 215 ; Adams's Diary, 
vol. viii. p. 336 ; Coleman's Crittenden, vol. i. p. 182. 



Ch.V.] CLAY'S GREAT EFFORTS FOR COMPROMISE 211 

promise, the responsibility for it rests mainly upon Cla} T , 
not only as the originator of the plan, but as the chief 
agent in carrying it through. While his principal motive, 
as he always affirmed, was to preserve all that was possible 
of the protective system, he was doubtless stimulated by 
the imposing effect of his action and a desire to prevent 
Jackson from executing his militant threats against South 
Carolina. No act of his career called out more signally all 
his peculiar resources. He labored night and day — plead- 
ing, manipulating, bartering, threatening. In the closet, in 
committee, on the floor, he was the controlling spirit. 1 "With 
the protected interests at stake he had the materiel to un- 
dermine the plan of the administration. Though the secret 
history of the transaction is not known in detail, the vari- 
ous means that were successfully used are evidenced by the 
vote. A more variegated combination of diverse elements 
was never fused in a legislative act. Every interest, influ- 
ence, and device that could gain a supporter without impair- 
ing the general purpose of the scheme was unhesitatingly 
resorted to. 

The main obstacles that Clay encountered were the efforts 
of Benton and Webster, the latter giving the original polic} 7- 
of the administration, in regard to nullification, such sup- 
port as to create the impression that he had permanently 
abandoned his former party affiliations. He achieved great 
renown by his speeches on the subject of nullification, his 
position compelling him to take an uncompromising stand 
for the nationality of the Union. He, therefore, favored 
putting the question to the test of arms if necessary rather 
than yield anything to the menace of nullification and 

1 Sargent's Clay, p. 144 ; Garland's Randolph, vol. ii. p. 362 ; Clay's 
Correspondence, p. 352. 



212 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1833 

secession. He did not favor the Verplanck bill ; but had 
it reached the Senate it is not unlikely that he would have 
supported it, provided he could have obtained such amend- 
ments as would reasonably satisfy the New England in- 
terests. He was in a peculiar predicament in regard to the 
tariff. Having forsaken his early principles through politi- 
cal exigency, he desired to gain all the advantage he could 
for the interests for which he had practically sacrificed those 
principles, and yet disclaim all responsibility for protection. 
He sought to blend the necessary reduction of the revenue 
with the retention of the utmost protection possible under 
the circumstances. His chief objections to the Compromise 
were that a horizontal reduction would prevent the dis- 
crimination essential to protection, and that to bind the 
action of Congress for a long term of } r ears was unwise and 
unconstitutional. 

For years after the Compromise there was much dispute 
between the principal parties to it as to which of them got 
the best of the bargain. The truth is that the arrangement 
afforded a convenient escape for all concerned. Protection, 
which would otherwise have soon been eradicated, retained 
a considerable measure of vitality, with the chance of com- 
plete restoration ; nullification, which had proven odious 
and impracticable, had nevertheless effected a large part of 
the actual object at which it was aimed ; and the adminis- 
tration had gained a substantial modification of the tariff, 
and upheld the national theory of the Union and the right 
of the government to resort to force to maintain it. 

From no practical point of view can the Missouri Compro- 
mise be justly condemned. Although the reasons that jus- 
tified it were more imposing in appearance than those which 
induced the Compromise of 1833, they were not more urgent 



Ch. V.] the wisdom of THE COMPROMISE 213 

and important ; in reality they were much the same. The 
time had not arrived to effect by force — and it could be 
done in no other way — a complete and final settlement of 
the difference that lay at the bottom of all the sectional 
controversies. Had the existing tariff system been main- 
tained intact, and force successfully exerted to prevent the 
secession of South Carolina, the result could have been but 
temporary. The underlying motives that prompted the 
action of that State were quite as powerful in all the South- 
ern States. Discontent pervaded the South, and but little 
would have been required to rally the entire section to the 
aid of South Carolina, which would have been moved to 
new efforts by the terrible incentives of humiliation and re- 
venge. At that period the North could not have preserved 
the Union against the concerted withdrawal of the South. 

Critics exceed their prerogative when they condemn by 
an ideal standard those who partake in such a trans- 
action as this Compromise. 1 The question is not whether 
this or that man or set of men was theoretically right or 
wrong, but what was the most practicable expedient to 
adopt, considering the whole situation — the clashing in- 
terests of the sections, the immaturity of the republic, and 
the untried quality of the Constitution. The imperfect 
human nature that governs all the affairs of a people de- 
mands allowances that critics no less than public men who 
represent hostile elements and bear the practical responsi- 
bilities are bound to make. If they who criticise and carp 
had been placed in the same situation with those who 

1 This presentation of the suhject cannot well ignore the comment of 
Von Hoist (Constitutional and Political History of the United States, vol. i. 
p. 505), who, notwithstanding the ability of his work, so often betrays the 
peevishness and lack of insight characteristic of the idealist and book- 
man. 



214 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1833 

shaped events at that perilous juncture, and had employed 
the logic of their present criticism, their voices would not 
have been heard above the mutter of the impending storm. 
Precisely two months before lie offered the compromise 
bill, Clay introduced the land bill which had failed at the 
preceding session. It formed a part of his general plan for 
dealing with the financial situation mainly caused by the 
tariff. After a vigorous debate the bill was narrowly pass- 
ed by the Senate. It was finally passed by the House also, 
but with amendments, which were not concurred in by the 
Senate until just before the close of the session. The Presi- 
dent did not sign it, but retained it until the beginning of 
the next session, when he returned it with his veto, and thus 
furnished one of the topics that made the Twenty-third 
Congress memorable. 



\ 



CHAPTER VI 

Clay and Jackson make Northern Tours— The Removal of the Deposits- 
Tactics of the Whigs in the Senate— Clay's Resolutions Censuring the 
President and the Secretary of the Treasury— The Debate— The Anti- 
Bank Resolutions of the House — The Distress Petitions — Jackson's 
Protest against the Censure and the Subsequent Proceedings— Taney's 
Nomination for Secretary of the Treasury Rejected— Other Phases of 
the Bank Struggle— Coinage Legislation — The Land Bill — The De- 
posits Bill — The French Spoliations — The Cherokee Indians — The 
Four Years Law and the Spoils System 

The session over, Clay returned to Ashland and resumed 
his rural pursuits. He had planned to make an extensive 
tour through Canada and the Northern States, intending to 
set out in July. Part of this plan, however, he relinquished. 
In October he went to Baltimore, and thence northward, 
visiting various points in New England and New York. 1 
He also stopped at several cities on his way to "Washington. 
The tour was a continuous ovation, flattering to his pride 
and stimulating to his purpose to renew the Whig war 
against the administration. 

In the summer, Jackson had preceded him over much the 
same ground and amid similar demonstrations, 2 which like- 



1 Adams's Diary, vol. ix. pp. 25, 43 ; Niles's Register, vol. xlv. p. 176 ; 
Clay's Correspondence, p. 371. 

2 When Jackson visited New England on this tour, Harvard University 
conferred upon him the degree of LL.D., which excited the deepest con- 
tempt of Adams, who was a member of the Board of Overseers. — Adams's 
Diary, vol. viii. p. 576. " A few years ago one of the universities conferred 
tbe honorary degree of LL.D. on Henry Clay . . . and Dr. Clay, Doctor 



216 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1833 

wise encouraged him to carry out the policy upon which he 
was resolved. About the time that Clay started north, Jack- 
son performed the culminating act of his design to destroy 
the bank — the removal of the government deposits. 1 An 
inkling of the great struggle that was soon to follow was 
given by Clay in a note, October 14, declining a public dinner 
which was proposed to be held in his honor at Philadelphia. 
" The time has arrived," he wrote, " which I long ago ap- 
prehended, when our greatest exertions are necessary to 
maintain the free institutions inherited from our ancestors. 
Yes, gentlemen, disguise is useless. The time is come when 
we must decide whether the Constitution, the laws, and the 
checks which they have respectively provided, shall prevail, 
or the will of one man shall have uncontrolled sway. In 
the settlement of that question I shall be found where I 
have ever been." 

Congress convened December 2. Ten years of increas- 
ing political agitation had made Congress the centre of 
popular interest, with the effect of bringing into both 
Houses an unwonted number of men of marked talent and 
ability. 2 The proceedings, particularly of the Senate, where 
the Whigs still had a majority, were watched like a gladi- 



Clay was said and sung a million of times by noisy fools who affected much 
pride in remembering Doctor Franklin as one of their countrymen — and 
who obtained the title in the same way that it was conferred on Mr. Clay, 
and on the same principles. Well — this degree has been bestowed on An- 
drew Jackson, and it is pretty near ' treason ' to call him Doctor. . . . Mr. 
Clay did not present himself to receive the degree, as General Jackson 
did." — Niles's Register, vol. xliv. p. 323. 

1 Van Buren accompanied Jackson on this tour, and was induced to 
change his opinion in regard to the removal of the deposits. He had pre- 
viously been adverse to it. — Reminiscences of J. A. Hamilton, p. 258. 

2 "Of the members of this Congress five have been President ; five 
Vice-President; eight Secretary of State; twenty -five Governor of a 
State ; besides other men of note." — Parton's Jackson, vol. iii. p. 537. 



Ch. VI.] JACKSON'S PURPOSE TO RUIN THE BANK 217 

atorial combat. 1 Undaunted by defeat and the apparent 
odds against them, Clay and the Whig leaders determined 
to persist in the policy of sustaining the bank. The removal 
of the deposits "was now the gage of battle. Thus began 
the famous " Panic Session." 

The action of the President, through the Secretary of 
the Treasury, in withholding further deposits of the pub- 
lic moneys from the bank and its branches, was prompted 
by no sudden impulse. It was a very natural stroke in 
Jackson's crusade against the institution, which he flatly 
declared in his message to Congress was "converted into 
a permanent electioneering engine." It was hardly to 
be expected, in view of all which had preceded, that he 
would spare so efficient a means to hasten and complete 
its destruction. Sumner, his ablest biographer, asserts, after 
the manner of most of those who have since written on the 
subject, that "Jackson's animosity towards the bank, in 
the autumn of 1832, had gathered the intensity and bull- 
dog ferocity which he always felt for an enemy engaged in 
active resistance." Not satisfied with this energetic meta- 
phor, the same writer also ascribes Jackson's procedure to 
the " impulse of the passions which animate the Indian on 
the war-path." Such characterizations are not calculated to 
promote a just and complete view of the matter ; they re- 
semble the splenetic exaggerations of Von Hoist, and dis- 
play somewhat the same temper of mind as such writers 
impute to Jackson. Starting from the proposition that the 
scheme of the bank w r as fundamentally wrong, by reason of 
its partnership of public with private interests, which left 



1 It was during this period that James Brooks introduced the practice 
of writing regular letters from Washington to distant newspapers. His 
correspondence was regarded as a revelation in journalism. 



218 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1833 

the institution open to political influences, it follows that to 
prevent the recharter on that basis was right. If Jackson 
acted like a bulldog or an Indian in the subsequent contest, 
the bank and its champions were hardly less savage and in- 
considerate of the business interests of the country. The 
bank had entered into an alliance, offensive and defensive, 
with the Whig party, and was using its prodigious power to 
that end. Refusing to compromise upon a modified plan of 
recharter, the allies prematurely projected the issue into a 
Presidential election as a means of party success. The result 
proving disastrous, they sought to coerce a change of popular 
opinion by furthering a financial stringency, which would be 
charged to the removal of the deposits, and which in truth 
would alone tend to some extent to produce that result. 
Certainly the bank would not be likely to mitigate the con- 
sequences when it was supposed that great political advan- 
tages could under the circumstances be derived from them. 
"While these considerations, too often lost sight of, do not 
lessen any just criticism of Jackson, they will aid in appor- 
tioning the blame between him and the bank party. 

The authority for the removal was contained in this pro- 
vision of the charter: "The deposits . . . shall be made in 
said bank or branches thereof, unless the Secretary of the 
Treasury at any time otherwise order and direct ; in which 
case the Secretary of the Treasury shall immediately lay 
before Congress, if in session, and if not, immediately at 
the commencement of the next session, the reason for such 
order or direction." The bank of course had not been un- 
mindful of the danger in which it stood from this pro- 
vision. Soon after Jackson's re-election it was rumored 
that he meditated removing the deposits. Another investi- 
gation by a committee of the House took place, resulting as 



Ch. VI.] JACKSON'S FIRMNESS AS TO THE BANK 219 

usual in a majority and minority report. The latter report, 
however, did not recommend the removal of the deposits; it 
only brought to view some bad practices of the bank, yet 
nothing of sufficient importance to show that the bank 
was insolvent, and that the deposits were insecure. Indeed, 
it may be conceded, in the full light of subsequent informa- 
tion, that at this period the bank was solvent, and such was 
the general opinion without regard to party lines. On the 
heels of these reports, two days before Jackson was inaugu- 
rated, a resolution was adopted by the House, by a large 
majority, declaring that the deposits might be safely con- 
tinued in the bank. This was done confessedly to stay the 
hands of the President. 

But his purpose was not so easily frustrated. The House 
resolution was the least of the difficulties he encountered. He 
found himself in the same position in which he was placed 
when he first announced his opposition to renewing the 
charter — the majority of his party, so far as they had any 
opinion on the subject, as well as the majority of his imme- 
diate advisers, were opposed to the plan. To remove the 
deposits was viewed as an unnecessary and dangerous pro- 
ceeding. But when at length he determined that it should be 
done, opposition, even in his own party, did not deter him. 
Despite all evidence that had been adduced, he believed 
that the bank was unsound and was using every means, in- 
cluding the public moneys on deposit with it, to perpetuate 
its existence contrary to the expressed will of the people. 
It must not be forgotten that tangible evidence of the 
operations of the bank that were politically most effective 
is not attainable. The motives that governed its officers 
in making loans and discounting paper were generally 
inscrutable. But the slightest insight into financial affairs 



220 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1833 

suggests not only the possibility but the practical certainty 
that at this juncture at least the business of the bank was 
conducted with a view to its political interests, and hence 
that its favors were bestowed only upon its tried friends 
and those who became its friends through the accommo- 
dations they received. Undoubtedly considerations of this 
kind controlled Jackson's decision more than any fears he 
may have entertained concerning the safety of the public 
funds. At all events, having made up his mind to remove 
them, he forthwith proceeded to execute his purpose. But 
he was now met by obstacles more difficult to surmount 
than adverse counsels. McLane, Secretary of the Treasury, 
refused to issue the necessary order. He was promptly 
transferred to the State Department to take the place of 
Livingston, who was made Minister to France. Duane, of 
Philadelphia, was then appointed Secretary of the Treasury. 
He had thus far been a warm supporter of the President in 
his opposition to the renewal of the charter. It was there- 
fore assumed, without inquiry, as it seems, that he would be 
willing to make the desired order ; but the President was 
immediately surprised and chagrined to find himself mis- 
taken in the new Secretary. "Without delay or equivocation 
Duane refused to make the order ; and no argument or per- 
suasion could shake his resolution. And not only did he 
refuse to make the order, but he also refused to resign his 
place voluntarily. He preferred political martyrdom for 
the good of the cause he had espoused. He was then sum- 
marily dismissed, and he retired denouncing the President 
and the " irresponsible cabal," as he charged, under whose 
influence the President acted. Taney, the Attorney-Gen- 
eral, was at once appointed in his stead. This time no mis- 
take was made. The order was issued with alacrity. In 



Ch. VI. J REMOVING STATE DEPOSITS 221 

fact, Taney had from the first strongly advocated the meas- 
ure and contributed materially to strengthening the Presi- 
dent's purpose. 1 

The order was issued September 26. It did not affect ex- 
isting deposits, which amounted to nearly ten millions ; they 
were left to be drawn in the usual course of disbursement, 
and after a lapse of fifteen months there still remained a 
balance with the bank of about four millions. The order 
related exclusively to moneys to be henceforth collected, 
and these were to be deposited with specified State banks. 
The bank at once began to curtail its discounts and to in- 
crease its clamor. The Whig press furiously joined the cry, 
assailing Jackson with increased license and rancor. The 
State banks were compelled to curtail, while the " pet 
banks" were not as yet able to relieve the pressure. The 
result was a serious disturbance of business, with the usual 
incidents of general financial fright. Such in brief was the 
situation at the opening of the "Panic Session." 

Although Benton had not been consulted by the Presi- 
dent as to the policy of removing the deposits, it received 
his exuberant approval. " I felt," he says, " an emotion of 
the moral sublime at beholding such an instance of civic 
heroism." As before, he took command of the anti-bank 
forces in Congress. December 5, he submitted a resolution 
calling on the Secretary of the Treasury for a statement 
of the public funds in the bank at the end of each month 
during the whole period. On the 10th the resolution was 
amended on Clay's motion so as to call also for detailed 
information touching the State banks selected as the new 



1 The internal history of the measure is given in detail by Amos Ken- 
dall in his Autobiography, p. 374 et scq. For Van Bureu's estimate of 
Taney, see his Political Parties in tlie United States, p. 364. 



222 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1833 

depositories. On the same clay, Clay offered a resolution 
requesting the President to inform the Senate whether a 
certain paper, purporting to have been read by him at the 
cabinet meeting in September, was genuine, and if so that a 
copy of it be laid before the Senate. The paper had been 
published for months. It had been formally prepared by 
Taney, according to the President's views, and was little more 
than an animated restatement of the considerations which 
had already been expressed in his official message, together 
with certain facts which had been brought out in the " in- 
vestigations," showing the political activity and mismanage- 
ment of the bank. It closed with an assumption of personal 
responsibility for the proposed act and its consequences. 
The resolution met with the criticism that the Senate had 
no right to demand the paper ; that it was not an official 
document, but precisely the same as a speech made b} 7- the 
President at a cabinet meeting. Clay virtually admitted 
that if the paper had not been published the Senate would 
have no right to it, but as it had been, the case was altered 
— a distinction without a difference. The resolution was 
adopted, Calhoun and his friends voting with the majority. 
The imprudence of this move immediately appeared. 
The President responded in a curt message declining to 
comply with the request. And there is no doubt that he 
was entirely justified in doing so. The publication of the 
paper presented merely a question of propriet}' - . It was the 
President's mode of making public the motives for doing 
an act that was violently assailed. It was one of the symp- 
toms of the intense political strife — and not materially dif- 
ferent in character from the various reports and communi-. 
cations issued by the bank for political effect. That he 
would refuse to comply with the resolution must have been 



Ch. VI] PROTEST AGAINST WITHDRAWING DEPOSITS 225 

with the Bank of the United States and its branches, in con- 
formity with the President's opinion; and by appointing 
his successor to effect such removal, which has been done, 
the President has assumed the exercise of a power over the 
Treasury of the United States not granted to him by the 
Constitution and laws, and dangerous to the liberties of the 
people. 

" Resolved, That the reasons assigned by the Secretary of 
the Treasury for the removal of the money of the United 
States deposited in the Bank of the United States and its 
branches, communicated to Congress on the 3d of Decem- 
ber, 1833, are unsatisfactory and insufficient." 

"We are in the midst of a revolution," he began, "hither- 
to bloodless, but rapidly tending toward a total change of 
the pure republican character of our government, and to the 
concentration of all power in the hands of one man. The 
powers of Congress are paralyzed, except when exerted in 
conformity with his will, by frequent and extraordinary ex- 
ercise of the Executive veto, not anticipated by the founders 
of our Constitution and not practised by any of the prede- 
cessors of the present Chief Magistrate. And to cramp 
them still more, a new expedient is springing into use, of 
withholding altogether bills which have received the sanc- 
tion of both houses of Congress, thereby cutting off all op- 
portunity of passing them, even if after their return the 
members should be unanimous in their favor. The Constitu- 
tional participation of the Senate in the appointing power 
is virtually abolished by the constant use of the power of 
removal from office without any known cause, and by the 
appointment of the same individual to the same office after 
his rejection by the Senate. . . . 

" The judiciary has not been exempt from the prevailing 

15 



226 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1833 

rage for innovation. Decisions of the tribunals, deliberate- 
ly pronounced, have been contemptuously disregarded, and 
the sanctity of numerous treaties openly violated. Our 
Indian relations, coeval with the existence of the govern- 
ment and recognized and established by numerous laws and 
treaties, have been subverted and the rights of the helpless 
and unfortunate aborigines trampled in the dust, and they 
are brought under subjection to unknown laws, in which 
they have no voice, promulgated in an unknown language. 
The most extensive and valuable public domain that ever 
fell to the lot of one nation is threatened with total sacrifice. 
The general currency of the country — the life-blood of all 
business — is in the most imminent danger of universal dis- 
order and confusion. The power of internal improvement 
lies crushed beneath the veto. The system of protection to 
American industry was snatched from impending destruc- 
tion at the last session ; but we are now coolly told by the 
Secretary of the Treasury, without a blush, 'that it is under- 
stood to be conceded on all hands that a tariff for protection 
merely is to be finally abandoned.' By the 3d of March, 
1S37, if the progress of innovation continues, there will be 
scarcely a vestige remaining of the government and its pol- 
icy as they existed prior to the 3d of March, 1829. In a 
term of eight years, a little more than equal to that which 
was required to establish our liberties, the government will 
have been transformed into an elective monarchy — the 
worst of all forms of government." 

This exordium set the key of the entire performance. 
The first step of the argument, which was graphically pre- 
sented, was that the removal of the deposits was not the 
independent act of the Secretary of the Treasury, but was 
done at the dictation of the President. "While it was true 



Ch. VI.] THE ILLOGICAL REASONING OF CLAY 227 

that the primary cause of the measure was the will of the 
President, the fact afforded no foundation for the use Clay 
sought to make of it. He maintained that the office of the 
Secretary of the Treasury was wholly independent of the 
President ; that the Treasury, therefore, was not one of the 
Executive Departments over which the President had control, 
and further, that the President's Constitutional duty "to take 
care that the laws be faithfully executed " had no applica- 
tion to the subject, because that clause means nothing more 
nor less than that if resistance is made to the laws he shall 
take care that the resistance cease — a construction plainly 
too restricted. He asserted that the bank and the President 
were likewise independent of each other, and that the powers 
possessed by the President in relation to the institution were 
only to nominate the government directors and to take 
proceedings to annul the charter if he apprehended that it 
had been violated. This consideration, however, did not aid 
his argument, which was thus far radically unsound. Had 
it been made in a suit to test the validity of the order re- 
moving the deposits it would not have been even plausible. 
He apparently lost sight of three things absolutely conclusive 
against him : that the President had unquestionable author- 
ity to dismiss Duane ; that Duane's successor had express 
power to remove the deposits, and that it was his actual 
order that was issued ; and that the law does not consider 
the motives that lead to the exercise of a legal power. 

He also argued that the removal of the deposits in accord- 
ance with the will of the President was practically a union 
in his hands of the sword and the purse, the possibility of 
Executive encroachment against which Patrick Henry had 
inveighed in opposing the adoption of the Constitution ; 
and he used more neatly than appositely the familiar anec- 



228 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1833 

dote of Julius Caesar in seizing the treasury of Borne from 
Metellus, the tribune. But here also he was in palpable 
error. By the removal of the deposits the President had 
asserted and acquired no more control over the use and ex- 
penditure of the public moneys than he possessed before, 
which was solely to approve or disapprove legislation ap- 
propriating them. 

But if Clay had travelled beyond the limits of solid argu- 
ment, the President had to some extent done likewise in 
some of the reasons declared by him in his paper. " The 
responsibility," said he, " has been assumed, after the most 
mature and deliberate reflection, as necessary to preserve 
the morals of the people, the freedom of the press, and the 
purity of the elective franchise." Clay pungently asked 
whence the President derived his functions as public guar- 
dian. The statement was induced by the President's not 
unfounded belief that the bank was using the government 
deposits to win supporters in order to procure a renewal of 
the charter. It nevertheless laid him open to the criticism 
that he was assuming an unwarranted paternalism over the 
people, and this gave some color to the charge that, whether 
or not he had violated the letter of the Constitution and the 
laws, he had violated their spirit. However, had the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury removed the deposits contrary to the 
will of the President and been dismissed in consequence, 
and had they then been restored by the President's dicta- 
tion, Clay would have found the task of defending those 
acts far more eas} r and congenial. 

The first part of the speech thus outlined was delivered 
on Thursday. The Senate then adjourned to the following 
Monday, when Clay resumed. He concluded on the next 
day. On resuming he proceeded to examine the legal 



Ch. VI.] CLAY'S ARGUMENT FOR THE BANK 229 

power of the Secretary over the deposits. The Secretary 
asserted the power to be absolute and unconditional. This 
Clay denied, using the same line of argument that he had pre- 
viously employed. He failed utterly to demonstrate that the 
provision of the charter under which the removal was made 
did not authorize it. That the condition of the bank was 
not such as to make the removal necessary as a prudential 
measure did not in the least affect the naked question of 
legal power. The language of the charter was too plain to 
call for any extrinsic considerations by way of construc- 
tion or interpretation. Nor did the act of the Secretary, as 
Clay maintained, interfere with the power of Congress to 
pass other laws to regulate the custodj 7 " of the deposits or 
even to restore them to the bank. 

He then considered at length the various reasons pre- 
sented by the Secretary in his report as justifying the re- 
moval. They were substantially the same as those contained 
in the President's paper. This was the strongest part of the 
speech, some of the strictures being entirely just. Though 
it was ineffectual as an argument against the legality of the 
removal, it was a spirited and forcible presentation of the 
case against the expediency of it, and as such was not im- 
proved upon during the debate. 

He concluded by reviewing the manner in which the Sec- 
retary had exercised his power over the deposits. He as- 
serted that in selecting the new depositories the Secretary 
had unfairly discriminated in favor of banks at the Atlantic 
seaports, which would thus receive most of the public moneys ; 
and, further, that these banks had been chosen without ade- 
quate information as to their financial condition. Moreover, 
he argued that inasmuch as there was a law prohibiting the 
Secretary from entering into any contracts except by special 



230 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1833 

authority, this law had been violated in making the new de- 
positories, for the reason that in so doing he had necessarily 
made contracts with those banks. He denied that the power 
to remove from implied the power to designate the places 
to which the deposits should be removed, a contention too 
clearly erroneous to require any argument to refute it. It 
may be that in some of the details of the new arrangement 
the Secretary had exceeded his strict legal authority ; but 
this did not militate against the validity of the main act nor 
prevent Congress from making any laws it deemed advisa- 
ble to protect the public funds. Clay closed in the same 
strain as he began. 

"The eyes and the hopes of the American people are 
anxiously turned to Congress. The}'' feel that they have 
been deceived and insulted, their confidence abused, their 
interests betrayed, and their liberties in danger. They see 
a rapid and alarming concentration of all power in one 
man's hands. They see that by the exercise of the positive 
authority of the Executive, and his negative power exerted 
over Congress, the will of one man prevails and governs the 
republic. The question is no longer what laws will Congress 
pass, but what will the Executive not veto. The President, 
and not Congress, is addressed for legislative action. . . . 
We behold the usual incidents of approaching tj'ranny. The 
land is filled with spies and informers, and detraction and 
denunciation are the orders of the day. People, especial- 
ly official incumbents in this place, no longer dare speak in 
tones of manly freedom, but in the cautious whispers of 
trembling slaves. The premonitory sjmiptoms of despotism 
are upon us ; and if Congress do not apply an instantaneous 
and effective remedy the fatal collapse will soon come 
on, and we shall die, ignobly die ! base, mean, and abject 



Ch.VL] CLAY'S INVECTIVE ANGERS JACKSON 231 

slaves — the scorn and contempt of mankind — unpitied, un- 
wept, and unmourned !" 

The speech was received by the Whigs with unbounded 
approval and admiration. The effect upon Jackson was, ©f 
course, the extreme reverse. 1 " Oh !" he exclaimed, upon 
reading it, "if I live to get these robes of office off me, I 
will bring the rascal to dear account !" To those who heard 
the speech Clay fully sustained his oratorical reputation. 2 
Many passages were pronounced with that magnetic effect 
which always made the more animated parts of his speeches 
so striking to his listeners. The applause was so frequent 
that, after he had finished, the Yice - President announced 
that upon any further manifestations of the kind the gal- 
leries would be cleared. 

It is unnecessary to trace the course of the prolonged 
debate that ensued. Benton followed Clay, completely an- 
swering his legal argument and presenting the anti-bank 
side of the question with his usual thoroughness and force. 
Calhoun continued in the alliance he had formed at the pre- 
ceding session, and gave Clay earnest co-operation. "Webster 
resumed his former affiliations and renewed his powerful 
support of the bank. He spoke many times on various 
phases of the controversy and wrote the elaborate report 
of the Finance Committee approving the second resolution. 3 



1 "The action of the Senate . . . "was a fearful shock to Jackson's strong 
nervous system. It produced more than anger. This word faintly con- 
veys the idea." — Smith's Cass, p. 284. 

- A few days after Clay's speech, and perhaps somewhat influenced by 
it, Judge Story wrote : "I seem almost, while I write, to be in a dream, 
and to be called back to the last days of the Roman Republic, when the 
people shouted for Coesar, and liberty itself expired with the dark but 
prophetic words of Cicero." — Life and Letters of Story, vol. ii. p. 154. 

3 He also proposed a bill to continue the charter of the bank for six 
years under certain limitations ; but it was not acceptable to either party 



232 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1834 

Most of the Senators took an active part in the debate, 
which continued until March 28. It was closed by Clay, who 
began his speech by sa}ang : " It was just three months yes- 
terday since I opened the debate in the Senate which is now 
drawing to a close. The period which has since elapsed is 
long enough for a vessel to have passed the Cape of Good 
Hope or to have made a return voyage from Europe. It is 
the longest period which has been occupied in a single debate 
since the organization of the government." The second 
resolution was adopted in its original form. The first was 
not entirely acceptable to Calhoun, Webster, and others, who 
could not deny that the President had the power to remove 
Duane ; they held that he had abused, but not usurped, the 
power of removal. The resolution was accordingly modified 
so as to read: "Resolved, That the President, in the late 
executive proceedings in relation to the public revenue, has 
assumed upon himself authority and power not conferred by 
the Constitution and the laws, but in derogation of both." 
In this form it was adopted. 

During this time the House had not been inactive toward 
the subject. There the administration had a majority, by 
which to counteract, to some extent, the more imposing 
operations of the Senate. After a long discussion the report 
of the Secretary of the Treasury in regard to the deposits 
was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, of 
which James K. Polk was chairman. March 3, the committee 
reported. The majority sustained the administration on all 



and nothing came of it. Sumner wrote from Washington, March 3, 1834: 
" "Webster is doing the labor in court 'which should have been done out of 
court. In fact, politics has entirely swamped his whole time and talents. 
All here declare that he has neglected his cases this term in a remarkable 
manner." — Pierce's Sumner, vol. i. p. 136. 



Ch.VL] THE HOUSE SUPPORTS JACKSON 233 

points and proposed four resolutions : that the bank ought 
not to be rechartered ; that the deposits ought not to be 
restored to the bank ; that the State banks ought to be con- 
tinued as the depositories, under a law prescribing the mode 
and terms of their selection and the securities to be taken ; 
and that a committee be appointed to ascertain the causes 
of the commercial depression, and particularly whether the 
bank had furthered it. Discussion of the resolutions was 
twice postponed, probably for the Senate to conclude its 
proceedings on Clay's resolutions. The debate then began 
and continued vigorously until April 4, when the previous 
question was ordered and the resolutions were adopted. 

That the President would take official notice of the 
Senate's censure was not generally expected ; but it was soon 
understood that he would not remain silent. That there 
was no precedent to guide him was regarded as not likely to 
deter him more than it ever had in any of his undertakings. 
While his counter-stroke was preparing, and after the formal 
debate on the removal of the deposits had ceased in both 
houses, another phase of the proceedings in relation to the 
subject continued unabated. From the beginning of the 
session to its close memorials and petitions were presented 
almost daily, picturing in the most sombre hues the calamity 
and distress which had befallen the country as the result of 
removing the deposits, and praying their restoration. They 
were met by others of contrary character, but they were 
more numerous and were presented w r ith more display. 1 

In these proceedings Clay was very active. He spoke 
often, using the memorials he presented as the subjects of 
a variety of comment. On one occasion he endeavored to 



: See Benton's Tlilrty Tears' Vieic, vol. i. p. 421. 



234 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1834 

affix the name " Tory " to the Democratic party, but it 
made no progress ; on another he made an appeal to the 
Yice -President to intercede with Jackson to rescue the 
country from the pitiable condition which he pathetically 
described. In some quarters this ingenious harangue was 
taken more seriously than it was by Van Buren. " As Clay 
closed his eloquent philippic, Van Buren called a Senator to 
the chair and went straight across the chamber to Clay's 
seat. The tall Kentuckian stared at the ' Little Magician ' 
while the perturbed spectators awaited the result with un- 
disguised anxiety. Van Buren bowed gracefully to Clay 
and said : ' Mr. Senator, allow me to be indebted to you for 
another pinch of your aromatic maccoboy.' Clay waved his 
hand towards the gold snuff-box on his desk and took his 
seat, while Van Buren took a deliberate pinch and leisurely 
returned to the Vice-President's chair." 1 Charles Sumner 
was present on one of these occasions when Clay spoke. 
" His eloquence," wrote Sumner, " was splendid and thrill- 
ing. Without notes or papers of any kind, he seemed to 
surrender himself entirely to the guidance of his feelings. 
He showed feeling ; to which, of course, his audience re- 
sponded. There Was not one there whose blood did not 
flow quickly and pulse throb quickly as he listened. He de- 
livered a violent attack upon Jackson and a vehement exhor- 
tation to the people to continue their memorials and re- 
monstrances. His language, without being choice, is strong ; 
but it is his manner, or what Demosthenes called action — 
action — action — which makes him so powerful. The op- 
position have now a majority of members in the Senate 
and much the heaviest weight of talents. Van Buren sits 



Stanton's Random Recollections, p. 206. 



Ch. VI.] JACKSON REPLIES TO THE CENSURE VOTE 235 

like a martyr under the torrents of abuse that are poured 
upon his masters and followers." ' 

There was an organized effort by the friends of the bank 
throughout the country to create excitement and alarm, 
and to bring about public meetings at which inflamma- 
tory speeches were made and the distress petitions were 
circulated and signed. In many cases these petitions were 
taken to Washington by large delegations that besieged the 
"White House and the halls of Congress. The effort was 
successful. "What would have been at most but a short 
financial flurry was thus aggravated to a severe panic and 
depression disastrous to many business interests and harm- 
ful to all. 

In the face of the facts, conceding that the policy of the 
administration was wrong, the subsequent action of the 
bank in intensifying the financial distress was worse. Jack- 
son should at least be acquitted of any design to cripple 
commerce and finance for political effect. 

His reply to the resolutions of censure came April 17, in 
the form of a message to the Senate. It was a well- 
constructed document, admirable in temper and style. He 
challenged the propriety of the censure, because it was not 
a joint resolution of both houses, and asserted no legislative 
powers and proposed no legislative action. He maintained 
that it was unconstitutional, because it was virtually an at- 
tempt to impeach him by a majority of less than two-thirds 
of the Senate, without observing any of the requirements 
in impeachment proceedings, and without contemplating 
any of the consequences of a regular impeachment. He 
adverted caustically to the modification of the resolution 



1 Pierce's Sumner, vol. i. p. 137. 



236 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1834 

originally introduced, in order that it could obtain a ma- 
jority of the Senate. He then argued that the Treasury 
Department was an Executive Department, and therefore 
under his supervision, and also that he had unrestricted 
power to remove cabinet officers. He quoted resolutions 
adopted by the legislatures of Maine, New Jersey, and 
Ohio approving the proceedings that effected the removal of 
the deposits. This was done for the moral effect of show- 
ing that if four Senators from those States who had voted 
for the censure had complied with those resolutions they 
would not have been adopted, although he was careful to 
disclaim any implication that Senators could be bound by 
such instructions. He criticised the tendency of the doc- 
trines asserted by the Senate, and formally protested against 
the right of the Senate to adopt the resolutions. He closed 
with an eloquent passage appealing to his personal history 
and public services as a vindication from any imputation 
against the purity of his motives and purposes. He request- 
ed that the " message and protest " be entered on the jour- 
nal of the Senate. 

As soon as it was read it met with violent opposition. 
Poindexter moved that it be not received. One paragraph 
of his remarks in making the motion will illustrate the acri- 
mony that the protest instantly aroused. " This is no mes- 
sage," said he ; " it is merely a paper signed by Andrew 
Jackson ; and much more dangerous in its tendency than 
the same man sent here in 1819, and which the Senate 
kicked out-of-doors. Then he held the military power 
only ; now he holds both the civil and the military. This is 
a measure calculated to produce no general good. It is 
merely an attack on this body. It will make a good article 
for a certain official journal ; but it is unfit for the serious 



Ch. VI] BENTON DEFENDS JACKSON 237 

consideration of the Senate. I would spurn it from the 
Senate. It is an attempt to use the Senate as the medium 
through which to assail itself — this body which stands as a 
barrier between the people and the encroachments of Execu- 
tive power — upon which liberty may repose without danger 
to the remotest posterity. Destroy this branch, and with 
the aid of the Blue Book no limit can be set to the extent 
of Executive power. It is a most miserable attempt to 
sustain that power. But it is nothing more than what the 
Executive has said in his private chamber and what appears 
daily in the columns of the Executive journal itself." 

lie was followed by two other Senators who spoke in the 
same temper. Benton then took the floor, speaking at con- 
siderable length and confessedly after much deliberation : 
he was manifestly prepared for what had taken place. His 
main object was to announce the intention to move to ex- 
punge from the journal the resolutions of censure and to 
persevere in that purpose until it was accomplished. In re- 
plying to the motion not to receive the protest he used one 
argument that was an effective answer. " The President," 
said he, " in the conclusion of his message has respectfully 
requested that his defence might be entered upon the jour- 
nal of the Senate — upon the same journal that contains the 
record of his conviction. "Will they refuse this act of sheer 
justice and common decency ? Will they go further, and 
not only refuse to place it on the journal, but refuse even to 
suffer it to remain in the Senate? Will Senators exhaust 
their minds, and their bodies also, in loading this very com- 
munication with epithets, and then say it shall not be re- 
ceived? Will they receive memorials, resolutions, essa} T s, 
from all that choose to abuse the President, and not receive 
a word from him ?" After some further discussion carried 



238 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1834 

on with the same asperity the Senate adjourned on motion 
of Leigh, who said : " I cannot now discuss this question 
without giving utterance to feelings of passion which would 
be thought by others unbecoming the occasion and my sta- 
tion — feelings which I now feel boiling in my bosom." 1 

The motion to reject was formulated in a series of resolu- 
tions declaring that the protest was not authorized by the 
Constitution ; that it was calculated to destroy the indepen- 
dence of the Senate and degrade it in public opinion ; and 
that it be not received. Subsequently a different set was 
substituted at Clay's request. The language of the prelimi- 
nary resolutions was materially modified, though the pur- 
port was similar ; but the last was radically changed, being 
made to read, " that the aforesaid protest is a breach of the 
privileges of the Senate, and that it be not entered on the 
journal." Benton's criticism had taken effect. 

Though severe and exciting, the previous debate had been 
conducted with dignity. But the sequel, which the protest 
provoked, raged with a violence of feeling and invective 
then unparalleled in the proceedings of Congress. The 
Whigs were exasperated beyond restraint. In their eyes 
the proceedings by which the deposits were removed were 



1 On the next day Leigh made his speech ; but the delay did not sub- 
due his feelings. Here are some of his remarks : " He has a presumption 
which no mortal man has ever before been cursed with, which no mon- 
arch since the days of King Henry the Eighth ever claimed before. . . . 
I suppose that never has a hero, in any age, obtained such a mass of mili- 
tary renown from a single victory as the President lias received for that 
[New Orleans] ; and I venture to say that I will find five hundred brigadier- 
generals in the Revolution of France who have equally distinguished them- 
selves. As to the President's gray hairs, on which he draws inspirations of 
heavenly blessings, I know him too well to believe that the frosts of age 
have quenched the boilings in his bosom. He rather reminds me of Mount 
^Etna, whose summit is capped with eternal snow, but which is always 
vomiting forth its liquid fire." 



Ch. VI.] THE DEBATE ON JACKSON'S PROTEST 239 

moderate assertions of Executive power when compared 
with the doctrines of the protest. Had Jackson threatened 
to disperse the Senate at the point of the bayonet, he would 
hardly have been assailed with more vehemence and stig- 
matized less as a usurper and tyrant. Legal argument now 
played but a secondary part ; denunciation, crimination, and 
recrimination characterized the debate, from the furious 
tirade to the studied philippic, for Jackson was defended 
with the same vigor and license exhibited by his assailants. 
No theatrical performances were ever attended with more 
excited interest. Spectators came from afar to witness the 
proceedings, and no one followed them with more acute 
attention than did Jackson himself, although, of course, he 
did not visit the chamber. " Nothing escaped him," says 
Parton ; "no matter to how late an hour of the night the 
debates were protracted, he never went to sleep till Major 
Lewis or Major Donelson came from the Capitol and told 
him what had been said and done there." 

The debate continued until May 7, when the resolutions 
were adopted. But Calhoun, whose hostility to Jackson was 
even more rabid than Clay's, was not content with merely 
refusing to enter the protest on the journal. He was un- 
willing to relinquish the original proposition not to receive 
it. He therefore submitted two additional resolutions — 
that the President had no right to protest to the Senate 
against any of its proceedings, and that the protest be not 
received. The first was adopted, but the latter failed, re- 
ceiving but seven votes. 

In opening his speech on the resolutions of censure, Clay 
made a statement that now seems an exaggeration. " It is 
not," said he, " among the least unfortunate symptoms of 
the times that a large portion of the good and enlightened 



240 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1834 

men of all parties are yielding to sentiments of despondency. 
There is, unhappily, a feeling of distrust and insecurity per- 
vading the community. Many of our best citizens enter- 
tain serious apprehensions that our Union and our institu- 
tions are destined to a speedy overthrow." The statement 
contained some truth ; but the apprehensions were confined 
to the Whig party, which shared the opinions of its leaders 
in Congress, that Jackson's conduct toward the bank and 
the Senate was autocratic and unconstitutional. From this 
the conclusion that our institutions were in danger was 
a natural consequence. At that period the people were 
accustomed to hearing or holding such sentiments. Yery 
many remembered with sharp distinctness when George 
III. reigned over the colonies. Hence to those who op- 
posed it every departure from familiar conditions and 
practices was sufficient to invoke the spectres of monarchy 
and subverted liberty. The controversies over the Alien 
and Sedition laws, the embargo, the admission of Missouri, 
and nullification had kept keenly alive the fear of disunion 
and its possible consequences. That Jackson's bold and 
novel doctrines and methods should excite genuine alarm 
in many intelligent and able minds made sensitive by in- 
tense party feeling is not surprising therefore, however 
unfounded the cause may now appear to have been. To 
reprimand the Senate as he did was entirely characteristic 
of the arbitrary independence with which he always acted. 
Certainly his right to protest was quite as clear as the right 
of the Senate to censure. But undoubtedly the safer judg- 
ment upon the whole affair is that strict propriety would 
have been better observed had the Senate and the President 
both kept within their ordinary and acknowledged spheres 
of action. Nevertheless, this is one of the cases where criti- 



Ch. VI] THE BANK AND THE PENSION FUND 241 

cism is futile except to disclose the topography of the field 
of political battle. Under the circumstances battle was in- 
evitable ; and the character of the combatants made it 
equally certain that no obstacles of mere form would hin- 
der their operations. "Whatever differences of opinion may 
exist as to any feature or tendency of the strife, there is 
one overshadowing agreement — neither party harbored a 
sinister design against the institutions or the liberties of the 
country. 

The session was drawing to a close. Comparatively little 
of the time had been devoted to general legislation. But 
notwithstanding all that had taken place in connection with 
the absorbing deposits question, the struggle was not yet 
entirely over. Early in the session the President had sent 
a short but sharp message assailing the bank for its refusal 
to surrender to the control of the War Department the pen- 
sion fund and the books and papers connected with it. He 
desired to terminate every financial relation between the 
bank and the government. The direct question involved 
was merely a legal one arising under a special statute. 
Both parties seemed unmindful in all the proceedings 
where the bank was concerned that the appropriate place 
to determine questions of legal right was in the courts. 
In the Senate the message was referred to the Judiciary 
Committee, which at length reported in favor of the bank. 
After the action on the protest this matter came up for dis- 
cussion, and resolutions sustaining the bank were adopted 
by the usual majority. Clay then recurred to the principal 
subject. He had evidently become convinced that the criti- 
cism upon the resolutions of censure, that the}' were but the 
fulmination of a majority of the Senate and did not con- 
template any legislative action, could not be wholly disre- 

16 



242 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1834 

garded. Accordingly, on May 28, he submitted two resolu- 
tions. The first reaffirmed the one before adopted, that the 
reasons of the Secretary of the Treasury for removing the 
deposits were unsatisfactory and insufficient ; the other was 
that after July 1 the deposits should be restored. They 
were offered as joint resolutions of both houses. In view 
of the certain failure of the resolutions in the House he ad- 
mitted that his purpose was to avoid the technical objection 
that the previous resolution was abstract and could lead to 
no practical results. He professed the opinion that the ob- 
jection had no force, yet he desired to meet it and leave 
nothing undone to regain the lawful custody of the public 
treasure. The avowed reason why the resolutions of cen- 
sure were not joint was because the House would reject 
them. Clay now acknowledged that this consideration 
ought not to influence the Senate, which owed to itself and 
to the country the discharge of its whole duty regardless of 
any other branch of the government. We may well won- 
der why he did not pursue this course originally. Had the 
resolutions of censure been joint or the debate centred on 
a bill to restore the deposits, Jackson would have had no op- 
portunity to defend himself and attack his accusers, a dan- 
gerous advantage before the people. This retreat from the 
former procedure may be taken as a tacit admission that 
Jackson was not entirely wrong in the doctrines of the pro- 
test. The resolutions were stoutly opposed, but they were 
soon adopted. In the House they were summarily laid on 
the table and remained there. 

There was another mode of rebuking the President and 
the Secretary of the Treasury far more efficient than svcvy 
resolutions. In his remarks on submitting the joint resolu- 
tions, Clay plainly intimated it. "To-morrow," said he, 



Ch. VI.] CLAY AND THE TREASURY NOMINATIONS 243 

" will be one year since any head of the Treasury Depart- 
ment has been appointed by and with the advice and con- 
sent of the Senate. Gentlemen have said, Why this anxiety 
for these nominations? I answer, ~No other reason but that 
the Constitution requires them to be made. Gentlemen ask 
if we want to reject them. I do not acknowledge a right 
to make such an inquiry into motives, but if it may be made 
I may with equal propriety ask, Are they withheld from a fear 
of their being rejected?" June 23, Taney's nomination was 
sent to the Senate. It was rejected forthwith. Taney at 
once resigned, and the first clerk of the Treasury became by 
law the acting Secretary. Subsequently, Woodbury was ap- 
pointed and confirmed. The other nomination to which 
Clay alluded was that of Butler for Attorney-General. It 
was sent in with the nomination of Taney; but as Butler 
had taken no official action in regard to the deposits, his 
nomination was confirmed. 

Meantime the investigating committee appointed by the 
House made its report. It was a prolix description of utter 
failure. The committee had endeavored to get evidence 
from the bank on the subjects of investigation, but every 
effort was frustrated. It first met with technical legal ob- 
jections, and finally with the absolute refusal of the officers 
to testify or produce the books. It was thus forced to give 
up the task and return empty-handed. The report proposed 
resolutions asserting the right of either house of Congress to 
investigate the affairs of the bank and to compel the produc- 
tion of its books and the testimony of witnesses, and directing 
the Speaker to issue his warrant for the arrest of the presi- 
dent and directors of the bank that they might be brought 
to the bar of the House to answer for contempt. The reso- 
lutions were not acted upon because it was believed that the 



244 TEE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1S34 

bank would suffer seriously in public opinion for its conduct 
without the House entering upon a protracted trial of the 
refractory officers. This course proved judicious. The bank 
had done itself far greater injury than any investigation or 
any punishment of its officers could have accomplished. The 
effects were so soon apparent that it was determined on the 
last da} 7- of the session to have the Finance Committee of the 
Senate conduct an investigation. "With one exception, the 
committee was composed of Senators friendly to the bank. 
The anti - bank member refused to serve. As might have 
been expected, this " whitewashing committee," as it was 
termed, failed to aid the tottering cause of the bank. 

The most important legislation enacted at this session was 
to regulate the coinage of money. For years the currency 
of the country had consisted chiefly of bank-notes. In 1834 
that currency was in a very sound condition, owing to the safe- 
guards upon the circulation issued by the Bank of the Uni- 
ted States and the general security of the State banks ; but 
the administration, influenced largely by Benton, favored the 
retirement of paper currency and the restoration of specie. 
The coinage was still governed by the original laws on the sub- 
ject, which were enacted in 1792 and 1793. Several attempts 
had been made to change the mint ratio between gold and 
silver (1 to 15) established by those laws, but nothing had 
been accomplished. Gold in the mean time had somewhat en- 
hanced in value, and in consequence had nearly disappeared 
from circulation, 1 while the volume of small notes had pro- 



1 "A golden piece of money was a curiosity at that time. It was a 
distinction in the country places to possess one. Clay and eternal rag- 
money, Jackson and speedy gold, was diligently represented as the issue 
hetween the candidates [1832]. Storekeepers responded by announcing 
themselves as anti-bank hatters and hard-money bakers." — Pariou's Jackson, 
vol. iii. p. 421. 



Ch. VI] JACKSON VETOES THE LAND BILL 245 

duced a similar, though not so extensive, effect upon silver. 
The ratio was now fixed at 1 to 16.002 by a law passed dur- 
ing the last days of the session. The majority for it was 
very large in both houses, notwithstanding the opposition of 
the paper interest. In the Senate only seven voted against 
it, Clay being among the number. By this law, as it proved, 
gold was slightly overvalued. This soon had the effect of 
banishing silver. Such is the delicacy of the monetary rela- 
tion between the two metals, which renders the "double 
standard " so difficult of practical operation. 

One other topic of the session remains to be noticed. The 
President's veto of the land bill was sent to the Senate soon 
after the opening of Congress. Had the bill been returned 
immediately after its passage during the previous session it 
would doubtless have been passed over the veto. But it 
was sent to the President on the last day but one of the ses- 
sion, and failed by reason simply of not receiving his signa- 
ture. His message, therefore, was rather a manifesto than 
a veto. It roused Clay's ire that his pet measure should be 
balked in this manner, and he expressed his opinion with 
much freedom. He introduced the bill again. It was re- 
ferred to the Committee on Public Lands, which later re- 
ported it with a commentary written by Clay in the same 
tenor as his remarks when the President's message was re- 
ceived. No further action was taken. On Juneygfr, the ses- 
sion ended. L 30M% 

Clay's reflections on the results of the session must have 
suggested little cause for exultation. The labors of him- 
self and his coadjutors had been exacting and exciting, but 
were in vain. The bank was doomed. The administration 
had already begun to regain the ground it had lost through 
the panic. The financial distress was fast subsiding, and 



246 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1835 

there was a corresponding revulsion of popular sentiment 
against the Whig party. The prospect was that the Senate 
itself would soon be Democratic. Yet there was one consola- 
tion in which Clay probably found some degree of comfort — 
the redoubtable Jackson would soon pass off the scene. 

The next session, which began December 1, was short, 
only lasting until March 3, when the Twenty-third Congress 
expired. However, a large amount of business was transacted, 
but most of it was of a non-political character. The bank was 
but a subordinate topic, although the President, in his mes- 
sage, resumed hostilities against the institution. He recom- 
mended the sale of the government stock, the suspension of 
the receipt of the bank's notes for public dues, the regulation 
by law of the public deposits in the State banks, and the 
termination of all connection whatsoever between the bank 
and the government. The Finance Committee of the Senate, 
which was directed at the last session to make an investiga- 
tion of the bank and its operations, presented a long, defen- 
sive report, written by John Tyler. None of the recom- 
mendations, either of the President or the committee, were 
embodied in legislation. A bill to regulate the deposits had 
been passed by the House at the last session, but it failed in 
the Senate. The same bill was now reintroduced. It re- 
ceived a large majority in both houses, and became a law. 

For many years the " French spoliations " had been a 
subject of much importunity and discussion. In 1800 a 
treaty between France and the United States was con- 
cluded, by which the claims asserted by each power against 
the other for injuries to commerce prior to that year were 
mutually relinquished. In consequence, our government 
was incessantly besought for redress by citizens who had 
sustained injuries for which France had been released from 



Ch.VL] THE "FRENCH SPOLIATIONS" AGITATION 247 

compensation. The claims against our government were 
based on the theory that, by releasing France, it had as- 
sumed the payment of these claims. The agitation had now 
gained sufficient momentum to demand action by Congress. 
As the public debt was nearly extinguished, there was no 
reason why the claims, if just, should not be paid. A bill 
was introduced in the Senate to provide for them to the ex- 
tent of $5,000,000. It was supported chiefly by the Whigs, 
and was passed by the Senate after a debate that displayed 
much ability and research. It was defeated in the House by 
a substantially party vote. The entire discussion of the sub- 
ject, however, evinced nothing of a partisan nature. Wheth- 
er our government was justly bound to pay the claims was 
by no means clear; indeed, the case against them, on the law 
and facts, was undoubtedly the stronger. That the Whigs 
should advocate the payment was a natural result of their 
party policy of high tariffs and high prices for the public 
lands. Surplus revenues must be spent. The claims con- 
tinued to be pressed for many years, but the effort was al- 
ways unsuccessful. There was another branch of the same 
general subject of much greater importance and urgency. 

The depredations upon our maritime commerce after 
1S00, through the piratical policy of Napoleon, were more 
grievous and extensive than those which had preceded. 
After the close of the war with England our government de- 
manded reparation on behalf of those of our citizens who had 
suffered from the spoliations. Some fifteen years of diplo- 
matic fencing ensued over the question. The justice of the 
claim was to some extent uniformly conceded by the dif- 
ferent administrations of the French government ; but from 
one cause or another a treaty settling the controversy was 
not reached until 1831. To enforce this claim was one of 



248 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1835 

the first things that Jackson proposed after the beginning 
of his Presidency. In his first message he directed atten- 
tion to it in very emphatic language. The result of the ne- 
gotiations soon instituted was the treaty of 1831, by which 
the French government agreed to pay an indemnity of 
25,000,000 francs. This sum was to be paid in six annual 
instalments, the first of which became due in February, 
1833. Although King Louis Philippe was anxious to main- 
tain relations of cordial amity with the United States, the 
French Chambers failed to pass the necessary appropriations 
to meet the two accrued instalments. Jackson was wroth. 
He sharply reviewed the situation in his message of 1S34, 
and went so far as to recommend a law authorizing repri- 
sals if provision were not made for the payment of the debt 
at the next session of the French Chambers. The attitude 
of the President created alarm throughout the country, for 
France would undoubtedly view it as virtually a recommen- 
dation of war. Parton relates that before the message was 
sent members of the cabinet argued against this extreme 
measure and urged the President to modify several passages 
which they regarded as needlessly irritating and menacing ; 
but he refused to change them. " No, gentlemen," he ex- 
claimed, " I know them French ! They won't pay unless 
they're made to." ' 

The feeling of alarm excited by this energetic message 
was shared even by many of the President's stanchest ad- 



1 " After the message had been written some of its expressions were 
softened by a member of the cabinet before the MS. was sent to the 
printer, without the President's knowledge. When it was in type the con- 
fidential proof-reader of the Globe office took the proof-sheets to the Presi- 
dent ; and he afterwards said that he never before knew what profane 
swearing was. General Jackson promptly restored his own language to 
the proof-sheets." — Curtis's Buchanan, vol. i. p. 235. 



Ch.VL] TO AVOID FRICTION WITH FRANCE 249 

herents in Congress. In the Senate the subject was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Kelations, of which Clay 
was elected chairman. Perceiving that something should 
be done to allay the certain bad effect of the message upon 
the French, he took the matter in hand. On January 6 he 
presented the report of the committee. It was prepared by 
him, and was an exhaustive, temperate, and politic treatment 
of the subject. It firmly sustained the justice of the indem- 
nity, the binding obligation of the treaty, and the patriotic 
duty of enforcing our rights ; yet it skilfully excused the 
delay of the French government, and qualified the harsh- 
ness of the ^President's recommendation. It proposed this 
resolution : " That it is inexpedient at this time to pass any 
law vesting in the President authority for making reprisals 
upon French property, in the contingency of provision not 
being made for paying to the United States the indemnity, 
as stipulated by the treaty of 1831, during the present session 
of the French Chambers." On the 14th the resolution came 
up for consideration. Clay spoke briefly in its support, but 
he did not now restrain the criticism that the President had 
gone too far in proposing reprisals. Some discussion fol- 
lowed, in which objections were made to the wording of 
the resolution. Clay, however, expressed his willingness to 
accept any phraseology consistent with the object he had in 
view — suspending action until further developments. This 
harmonized the entire Senate. The resolution was then put 
in this form : " That it is inexpedient at present to adopt 
any legislative measure in regard to the state of affairs be- 
tween the United States and France." In this form it was 
unanimously adopted. 

The temper of the House was somewhat different. Its 
Committee on Foreign Affairs, to which that part of the 



250 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1835 

message concerning the relations with France had been re- 
ferred, did not report until February 27. The report was 
very short. It proposed resolutions declaring that the 
House would insist upon the execution of the treaty, that 
contingent preparations ought to be made to meet any emer- 
gency growing out of our relations with France, and that 
the committee be discharged from further consideration of 
the message. They caused a spirited debate, in which John 
Quincy Adams advocated them with especial vigor. The 
first resolution was finally amended so as to read : " That in 
the opinion of this House the treaty of the 4th of July, 
1S31, should be maintained and its execution insisted upon." 
This patchwork of resolutions — not different in practical 
effect from the Senate's resolution, though more compli- 
mentary to the President — proved acceptable to the House, 
and was unanimously adopted on the day before adjourn- 
ment. For the time the course of Congress quieted the fear 
of hostilities. The rates of marine insurance, which had 
been largely increased through the influence of the message, 
resumed their former level ; and commerce, relieved from 
danger, put to sea. Here the matter rested until the next 
session of Congress. 

On February 4, Clay presented the memorial of a coun- 
cil of Cherokee Indians, and made it the occasion of a 
speech on the relations between the government and the 
tribes in the Southwest. In that region the Indians had 
been an unceasing source of trouble. The spread of the 
white population and the planting interest pressed upon 
the boundaries of the Indian lands, which were gradually 
narrowed by successive treaties, not always obtained by 
fair means. Most of the Cherokees were located in Geor- 
gia, where the desire and the efforts for their removal ap- 



Ch. VI.] THE INDIAN TROUBLES 251 

proacbed ferocity. In 1802, in consideration of the cession 
by Georgia of the territory forming the present States of 
Alabama and Mississippi, the United States agreed to ex- 
tinguish the Indian titles in Georgia whenever it could be 
done peaceably and on reasonable terms. It had not yet 
been accomplished, and consequent difficulties and contro- 
versies had produced an extreme degree of exasperation 
against both the Indians and the government. During his 
administration, John Quincy Adams, emulating Jefferson's 
example, favored the firm protection of the Indians in all 
their treaty rights, and so far as he could he afforded it. 
His policy in this respect excited such ill-will toward him 
among the people of Georgia that he did not receive a vote 
in that State in the election of 1828. At that time, Clay 
shared the prevailing opinion of those who lived in the vicin- 
ity of Indians — that the race could not be civilized, that it 
was destined to extinction, and the sooner it was extinct the 
better ; yet he advocated humane treatment and protection. 
Of all the tribes the Cherokees were the most advanced 
in civilization. They had established an elective govern- 
ment wholly independent of State laws, as they had the right 
to do under the treaties. They had a written language, and 
churches, schools, and courts. The features of Indian life 
were not remarkable except by the fact that they existed 
at all. This community, promising as it was, considering the 
general character of the aboriginal tribes, was chiefly interest- 
ing as a curiosity of embryo civilization. Many of its mem- 
bers were not reclaimed from their savage instincts, and the 
lawless elements of both races came into frequent collision. 
This annoyance was much aggravated by the want of juris- 
diction of the State over the Indian country, which thus 
became the refuge of the unruly. This situation finally be- 



252 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1835 

came so obnoxious to the people of Georgia that they were 
ready to take any course to be rid of it. In December, 
1828, a law was passed by the State legislature dividing 
the Indian lands into several parts and annexing them to 
adjacent counties. It declared the native customs and 
usages of no valid effect, and made the Indians incompetent 
to act as witnesses. The real object was to extend the 
sovereignty of the State over the whites who lived in the 
reservation ; and Indian institutions were not further mo- 
lested. It was the preparatory step to ascertain the policy 
that Jackson would adopt, though it was expected that he 
would not interfere. Only a short time before Jackson's 
inauguration, Adams was formally appealed to by the 
Cherokees for protection. He left the subject to his suc- 
cessor, who refused to take any action and advised them 
to submit to the laws of Georgia or remove beyond the 
Mississippi, whither a part of the tribe had gone in 1818. 
With this immunity from Executive interference, the legis- 
lature of Georgia enacted a series of harsh and arbitrary 
laws calculated to destroy nearly all the rights of the 
Indians and drive the unfortunate people from the State. 
Most of their lands were taken and disposed of by lottery. 
Application was then made by the Cherokee nation to the 
Supreme Court of the United States to restrain the State of 
Georgia from executing these laws ; but jurisdiction was 
refused by the court on the ground that the Cherokees were 
not a " foreign state " within the meaning of the Constitu- 
tion, and could not, therefore, maintain a suit against a 
State of the Union. Not long after this the question as to 
the validit} 7 of these laws was again. brought before the • 
court, but this time in a manner that gave it jurisdiction, 
and they were declared null and void because in violation 



Ch. VI] CLAY'S SYMPATHIES WITH THE INDIANS 253 

of the Constitution, laws, and treaties of the United States. 
The State court refused to conform to the decision. The 
case arose through the arrest and conviction of two mission- 
aries who refused to obey the State laws in question. Be- 
fore the next session of the Supreme Court, at which an ap- 
plication could be made to enforce its decision, the prisoners 
agreed to submit to the State laws and were pardoned. 
Through all this the President remained passive. Thus at 
the very time he was resisting the doctrine of nullification 
proclaimed by South Carolina, he tolerated actual nullifica- 
tion in Georgia. 

The helpless situation of the Indians appealed to Clay's 
sympathies so strongly as to outweigh all political con- 
siderations. He consented to bring the subject before the 
Senate, and he did so in his most effective manner. His 
speech was admirable. He first presented the rights of the 
Indians under a long succession of treaties, and then depicted 
with affecting eloquence the wrongs to which the Cherokees 
had been subjected by the State of Georgia. At the conclu- 
sion of the speech he submitted resolutions directing inquiry 
into the expediency of further provisions of law enabling 
the Indians to maintain their rights in the federal courts, 
and also of provisions setting apart a district west of the 
Mississippi for such of the Cherokees as would occupy it, 
and securing their undisturbed possession of it. 

The speech of course was offensive to the Georgia Senators, 
and one of them, Cuthbert, immediately protested against it 
in a manner that shows the sympathetic effect it produced 
on those who heard it. " The subject," said he, " has been 
introduced altogether unnecessarily. It is a subject that 
cannot be tried here. Georgia does not plead before this 
tribunal. I do not stand here to plead in her behalf. The 



254 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1835 

case does not admit of that minute examination which the 
gentleman from Kentucky would give it. To what purpose, 
then, was the address of the Senator from Kentucky ? "Was 
it to secure to himself that praise which all had been pre- 
viously so ready to yield to him — the praise of splendid 
rhetoric, of studied eloquence, of measured tones, of theatric 
starts, of pathos of manner ? He had already the credit of 
these. No one disputes his unrivalled claim to them. If 
the gentleman intended to play a theatrical part, the oppor- 
tunity has been afforded him. What part does Eoscius next 
enact ?" 

He was followed by White, of Tennessee, who took the 
ground that the Indian treaties were not treaties within the 
meaning of the Constitution, and could not legally deprive 
the States of sovereignty over their entire areas, nor of the 
right to judge whether their laws were adapted to the con- 
ditions and wants of the people. He favored the removal 
of the Indians to the West, with a guarantee of permanent 
security in their new abode. Benton spoke briefly to the 
same effect. Clay then replied with his consummate skill. 

" The finest speech," says Martineau, " I heard from Mr. 
Clay in the Senate was on the sad subject of the injuries to 
the Indians. ... It was known that he would probably bring 
forward this great topic that day. Some of the foreign am- 
bassadors might be seen leaning against the pillars behind 
the chair, and many members of the other House appeared 
behind and in the passages ; and one sat on the steps of the 
platform, his hands clasped and his eyes fixed on Mr. Clay 
as if life hung upon his words. As many as could crowd 
into the gallery leaned over the balustrade; and the lower, 
circle was thronged with ladies and gentlemen, in the centre 
of whom stood a group of Cherokee chiefs listening iminova- 



Ch. VI.] CLAY'S INDIAN RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED 255 

bly. I never saw so deep a moral impression produced by a 
speech. The best testimony to this was the disgust excited 
by the empty and abusive reply of the Senator from Georgia. 
This gentleman's speech, however, showed us one good thing, 
that Mr. Clay is as excellent in reply as in proposition ; 
prompt, earnest, temperate, and graceful. The chief char- 
acteristic of his eloquence is its earnestness. Every tone of 
his voice, every fibre of his frame, bears testimony to this. 
His first sentences are homely, and given with a little hesi- 
tation and repetition, and with an agitation shown by a fre- 
quent putting on and taking off of the spectacles and a trem- 
bling of the hands among the documents on the desk. Then 
as the speaker becomes possessed with his subject the agita- 
tion changes its character, but does not subside. His utter- 
ance is still deliberate, but his voice becomes deliciously 
winning. Its higher tones disappointed me at first; but the 
lower ones, trembling with emotion, swelling and falling 
with the earnestness of the speaker, are very moving, and 
his whole manner becomes irresistibly persuasive. I saw 
tears, of which I am sure he was wholly unconscious, falling 
on his papers as he vividly described the woes and injuries 
of the aborigines. I saw Webster draw his hand across 
his eyes; I saw every one deeply moved except two persons, 
the Yice-President, who yawned somewhat ostentatiously, 
and the Georgian Senator, who was busy brewing his storm. 
I was amazed at the daring of this gentleman, at the audac- 
ity which could break up such a moral impression as this 
Cherokee tale, so told, had produced, by accusing Mr. Clay 
of securing an interest in opposition to Georgia ' by stage 
starts and theatric gesticulations.' The audience was visibly 
displeased at having their feelings thus treated in the presence 
even of the Cherokee chiefs ; but Mr. Clay's replies both to 



256 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1835 

the argument and abuse were so happy and the Georgian's 
rejoinder so outrageous that the business ended with a gen- 
eral burst of laughter." ' 

The resolutions were adopted, but no further action was 
taken. In December following a treaty was made with the 
Cherokees by which the titles to their lands were extin- 
guished. The tribe was afterward removed to Indian Ter- 
ritory, which was established in 1834. By this process the 
Indian question in the South was solved, although it in- 
volved a long and expensive war with the Serainoles in 
Florida. 2 

Another important topic of the session was the proposed 
repeal of the so-called "four years law," passed in 1820 at 
the instance of Crawford to aid him in his candidacy for 
the Presidency. This law limited the tenure of office of 
several classes of federal officials to four years, and thus 
insidiously introduced the spoils system into the national 
government. In 1S25, the practical effects of the measure 
having become distinct, an effort was made, but unsuccess- 
fully, to repeal it ; it was too thoroughly in harmony with 
the new political tendencies. Under Jackson, as we have 
seen, the system had developed into an avowed policy. It 
had become so obtrusive that another attempt was now 
made to arrest it. Calhoun took the initiative. Early in 
January he moved the appointment of a select committee 
to inquire into the extent of Executive patronage, the causes 
of its recent increase, and the expediency and means of re- 
ducing it. He was made chairman of the committee, and a 
month later presented its report — a sombre and surcharged 



1 Martineau's Retrospect of Western Travel, vol. i. p. 177. 

2 Benton's Thirty Years' View, vol. i. pp. 624, 626; Kennedy's Wirt, vol. 
ii. p. 251; Sumner's Jackson, p. 174; Sheparcl's Van Buren, p. 312. 



Ch. VI.] CALHOUN ATTACKS THE SPOILS SYSTEM 257 

account of the powers and practices of the Executive branch 
of the government in regard to its patronage. It proposed 
retrenchment, and alleged the existence of supernumerary 
offices and the general application of prescriptive political 
reasons in the making of appointments and removals. Bad 
as the system was, it was not so direful and far-reaching 
as Calhoun painted it. Not only the civil service in all its 
grades, but likewise the army and the navy, and even the 
pensioners, were treated by him as the active agents of Ex- 
ecutive influence and encroachment— " supple instruments 
of power " and " subservient partisans ready for every ser- 
vice however base and corrupt." Had this been true, even 
as a prevailing tendency, the conclusion drawn by him that 
our institutions were in imminent peril would have been 
justified ; but his assertions were too general and too mor- 
bid. The character of the mass of those enframed in the 
service of the government does not deserve so low an esti- 
mate. The average office-holder, though more or less a 
■partisan, is above baseness and corruption, even if any 
wrongful act were asked of him, which must seldom occur. 
Besides this, the chief posts in the administration of gov- 
ernment are generally filled by men of integrity and honor- 
able ambition. Any theory is fallacious that disregards the 
ordinary facts of life. 

Yet much of the criticism upon the spoils system, so far 
as that system was actually practised, was just. Some 
effects of the system are undeniably pernicious, however 
meritorious the great majority of the officials in the ser- 
vice may be. The spoils system tends to make politics a 
trade b} r which to gain the emoluments of place — to officer 
from colonel to corporal the forces of party with, men whose 
paramount object is not the public interest. It indirectly 

17 



258 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1835 

pays for menial partisan service out of the public purse. 
It, therefore, introduces a motive and an element that 
should not enter into political contests. It is not a factor 
of aggressive harm, but it is a hinderance to the best re- 
sults of representative government It is a vice rather than 
a direct and radical danger. Its effects are not concentrated 
— they are widely diffused. It roils the current of popular 
institutions, but does not change its course. 

In accordance with the recommendations of the report, a 
bill was introduced to repeal the evil features of the four 
years law, and to provide that nominations to fill vacancies 
caused by removal should be accompanied b}' - a statement 
of the reasons for removal. Even this measure did not go 
far enough to suit Cla}\ He offered an amendment to pro- 
vide that officials appointed " by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate" could only be removed with the 
concurrence of that body. It soon became evident, how- 
ever, that this amendment could not succeed, and Clay did 
not bring it to a vote; but it evoked discussion as to the 
power of the President to remove such officials regardless of 
the Senate. At the outset of Washington's first administra- 
tion this question was discussed, and it was decided by the 
casting vote of the Vice-President in favor of the Presi- 
dential power. The precedent thus established had governed 
all subsequent cases. The correct opinion, therefore, was 
undoubtedly that pronounced by Webster, that long usage 
had sanctioned the power, although it was questionable in 
the beginning, but that Congress could, nevertheless, impose 
conditions upon the tenure of office. 

The debate on the bill was general and earnest. Little 
was left to be said on the subject of the spoils system. 
Most of the discussion of civil service reform at the present 



Ch. VI.] CLAY AND THE PRESIDENT'S PREROGATIVE 259 

day is but a repetition of the arguments used in that debate. 
The principal difference between the conditions then exist- 
ing and those which now exist lies in the fact that at that 
period the main source of the evils of political patronage 
was that office-mongering was not yet a leading function 
of Senators and Representatives. The healthy sentiment 
on the subject that still prevailed in the Senate is shown by 
the strong support the bill there received. It was passed 
by a vote of nearly two to one, and would doubtless have 
received a larger vote had not the administration been so se- 
verely assailed. As it was, Benton voted for it, although he 
vigorously defended the administration against the charge 
of extravagance. The ablest and most adroit speech in oppo- 
sition to the bill was made by Silas Wright. Buchanan 
also bore a prominent part in opposition to the bill. Cal- 
houn's defence of the report and of the bill was philosophic 
and excellent. It was superior to the report itself, because 
less elaborate and more moderate. The case against the 
spoils system has never been stated with more breadth and 
force. 

Clay's speech was chiefly directed to the power of the 
President to remove officials appointed with the concur- 
rence of the Senate. His attitude toward this subject 
would alone indicate his opinions concerning official patron- 
age generally. No one was more pronounced in favor of re- 
moving as far as possible the public service from politics. 
His speech was bold and animated. He began by reviewing 
from his habitual point of view what he regarded as the 
centralizing tendency of Jackson's Presidenc} 7 -, and fully 
presented the argument against the implied Constitutional 
power of the President to dismiss officials, sharply challeng- 
ing the precedent of 1TS9. His remarks on the spoils sys- 



260 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1835 

tern itself were made incidentally through, the argument. 
His convictions in regard to it were so intense that instead 
of reasoning against it he fiercely denounced it. The speech 
is one of the best specimens of his skill as a debater ; but 
considered as a permanent contribution to the subject of 
patronage, it is open to the same criticism as that which 
Calhoun's report compels. It was delivered toward the 
close of the debate. The subject was not complex or 
many-sided, and it had been thoroughly canvassed. Yet 
Clay's speech was fresh and graphic. One of the most 
significant marks of his genius was the ease and facility 
with which he lifted out of the commonplace whatever en- 
gaged his attention. The bill reached the House too late 
for action upon it, even had there been a majority in its 
favor, which is doubtful. Many years passed before this 
reform was again attempted. 



CHAPTER VII 

Distribution of the Surplus— The French Spoliations— The Slavery Ques- 
tion — The Abolition Petitions and Incendiary Publications — Admission 
of Arkansas and Michigan into the Union — Texas— Madison's Death 
and Character— The Colonization Society— Clay and Garrison— Taney 
Becomes Chief Justice — The Political Situation — The Election of 1836 
—Politico-Finance — Jackson's Physical and Mental Traits— Efforts for 
Further Distribution— The Financial Condition of the Country— The 
Mania for Speculation — The Specie Circular 

The first session of the Twenty-fourth Congress opened 
December 7. On the next clay Clay made his appearance, 
having passed the recess at Ashland. He was again elected 
Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations. The post 
was still especially important, as the difficulty with France 
had not yet been settled. He had been in "Washington but 
a few days when he received information of the death of 
his only surviving daughter, Anne, the wife of James 
Erwin, a gentleman of high standing and character, resid- 
ing at New Orleans. She was Clay's favorite child. Her 
letters to him, published in his Correspondence, indicate that 
she possessed refined intelligence and a most amiable dispo- 
sition. Her death affected Clay more keenly throughout 
his life than any other of his numerous domestic bereave- 
ments. On reading the letter conveying the sad tidings he 
fainted. For several days he did not leave his apartments. 

Upon his return to the Senate, December 29, he again in- 
troduced his familiar bill to distribute the proceeds of the 
public lands. He delivered a speech on the subject, briefly 

I 



262 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1835 

presenting in new form the old arguments in favor of the 
measure. He closed the speech with the following passage, 
unique on such an occasion : 

" I confess I feel anxious for the fate of this measure, less 
on account of any agency I have had in proposing it, as I 
hope and believe, than from a firm, sincere, and thorough 
conviction that no one measure ever presented to the coun- 
cils of the nation was fraught with so much unmixed good 
and could exert such powerful and enduring influence in the 
preservation of the Union itself. If I can be instrumental 
in any degree in the adoption of it I shall enjoy in that re- 
tirement into which I hope shortly to enter a heart-feeling 
satisfaction and a lasting consolation. I shall carry there 
no regrets, no complaints, no reproaches on my own account. 
When I look back upon my humble origin, left an orphan 
too young to have been conscious of a father's smiles and 
caresses, with a widowed mother surrounded by a numerous 
offspring in the midst of embarrassments, without a regular 
education, without fortune, without friends, without patrons, 
I have reason to be satisfied with my public career. I ought 
to be thankful for the high places and honors to which I 
have been called by the favor and partiality of my country- 
men, and I am thankful and grateful. And I shall take 
with me the pleasing consciousness that in whatever station 
I have been placed I have earnestly and honestly labored to 
justify their confidence by a faithful, fearless, and zealous 
discharge of my public duties." 

The bill went in due course to the Committee on Public 
Lands, and was reported a month later. Debate upon it 
began in March and continued fitfully until May 4, when it 
was passed by the Senate. In the House, after considerable 
discussion, it was laid on the table. The effort, however, to 



Ch. VII.] THE " PET BANKS " SYSTEM 263 

effect some sort of distribution did not end here. Clay's 
plan failed, partly because the principle of it was bad, but 
chiefly because it was his. Yet something had to be done. 
The public debt was paid. The revenues of the govern- 
ment from all sources continued to be much in excess of its 
needs, and were increasing. The situation was embarrass- 
ing. The recent adjustment of the tariff by the Compro- 
mise produced no reduction of the customs revenue, 1 and 
the "Whigs prevented a reduction of the receipts from the 
sales of the public lands. One proximate cause of the 
peculiar condition of affairs was undoubtedly the vicious 
policy of depositing the surplus in the "pet banks." This 
policy operated inequitably among the different sections 
of the country, and, favoring the West, it promoted an ab- 
normal speculation in the public lands. From a preced- 
ing annual average of $2,500,000, the receipts from the 
land sales had within three years risen to nearly ten times 
that amount. This mania for speculation, however, was 
not confined to the public lands, but spread rapidly to 
everything that could be made a medium for speculation. 2 
It was a distemper of the public mind, engendered by sev- 
eral causes and destined to produce speedily the most severe 
and wide-spread havoc the country had ever experienced. 
In short, all the chief evils of the prevailing public policy, 
for which both parties were about equally responsible, had 
conspired to create another more serious and alarming. 

The surplus had become so large as to be viewed with 
deep anxiety, not less by the opposition than by the ad- 



'On the contrary, it increased. In 1834 it was §16,200,000; in 1835, 
$19,400,000 ; and in 1836, $26,400,000. June 1, 1836, the surplus amount- 
ed to $41,500,000. 

3 Diary of Philip Ilone, vol. i. pp. 173, 204. 



264 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1835 

ministration ; for not only were the Whigs influenced by 
the bad economic policy of the deposit system, but by the 
powerful political leverage it placed in the hands of the 
administration. Its harmful effects were becoming daily 
more apparent. Under these circumstances some mode of 
disposing of the surplus was a peremptory necessity — it 
had to be either expended or distributed. Various schemes 
were proposed. Calhoun was for a Constitutional amend- 
ment authorizing the distribution of the surplus among 
the States ; Benton, for expending it in fortification and 
other means of national defence ; Wright, for investing it 
in State bonds ; Grundy, for purchasing from the railroads 
perpetually free transportation of the mails and war muni- 
tions. But none of these propositions gained much sup- 
port. It was, of course, known that Clay's bill would fail 
in the House : the administration was pledged against it. 
Yet no other measure for distribution was reported until 
a few days before Clay's bill was tabled. 

A bill to regulate the deposits had been reported by the 
Finance Committee. The propriety of such a measure was 
undeniable, and there was comparatively little difficulty in 
devising a bill satisfactory to all. Calhoun had in the 
mean time overcome his Constitutional scruples, and pro- 
posed an amendment to the deposit bill to direct a division 
of the surplus, beyond five million dollars, among the 
States, in proportion to their population. This amendment 
was at length adopted by the Finance Committee, largely 
through the influence of Webster. After some discussion 
the ratio of distribution was changed to that of the repre- 
sentation of the States in Congress. In this form the bill 
went to the House. It there met with strenuous opposi- 
tion. While the provisions of the bill relating to the de- 



Ch. VII.] STRAINED RELATIONS WITH FRANCE 265 

posits were approved, the proposed distribution was not. 
An effort was made to separate the incongruous provisions 
into two bills, but without success. An amendment was 
then offered to the section for distribution, by which instead 
of donating the surplus to the States, it was to be deposited 
with them as a call-loan, to bear five per centum interest in 
case the certificates were assigned by the government to 
raise money. The amendment prevailed and the bill was 
passed by a vote of four to one. The Senate quickly con- 
curred, only six members voting in the negative — Benton, 
Black, Cuthbert, Grundy, Walker, and Wright. The Presi- 
dent signed the bill, but not with a very good grace. He 
professed to do so reluctantly, and doubtless he did so at 
the instance of Van Buren's friends, who feared that politi- 
cal disadvantage would follow a veto. It was the same 
motive that gained for the bill so large a vote in both 
houses. But little time elapsed before the ill effects of this 
vicious measure became apparent. 

Before the original deposit bill had been transformed into 
a distribution bill several other questions of moment had 
arisen. The first was the renewal of the difficulty with 
France, which had been allayed at the preceding session. 
After the action of the two houses, already recounted, the 
French Chambers passed a bill appropriating the amount of 
the indemnity, but with the proviso that it would not be 
paid until their government had received a satisfactory ex- 
planation of that part of the President's message which rec- 
ommended reprisals — that is to say, until he apologized for 
his belligerent affront to the dignity of France. The more 
ominous resentment of the alleged insult was the recall 
of the French Minister; at the same time our Minister 
received his passports, and left France. A large part of 



266 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

the President's annual message was devoted to the sub- 
ject. In January he sent a special message stating that 
our charge d\vffaires^ who remained in France after our 
Minister had left, had, pursuant to his instructions, demand- 
ed payment of the money without apology ; that payment 
had been refused, and he had returned. It also stated that 
the French charge (P affaires had been recalled, and all diplo- 
matic intercourse between the two countries was suspended. 
The tone of the President's message was more spirited and 
warlike than that of his preceding messages in regard to the 
matter. He refused to recede from the position he had 
taken ; he had offered all the " explanation " that could 
reasonably be expected of him. The money was admittedly 
due, and payment had been withheld beyond any excusable 
delay. If Jackson had been a little less vigorous and if the 
French government had been as regardful of its obligation 
as of its sentiment, there would have been no trouble. As 
it was the rupture was now complete. 

In the Senate the whole subject was again referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Relations. While it was under con- 
sideration, all the correspondence having been furnished, the 
President sent another message, conveying the information 
that the British government had offered to mediate, and 
that the offer had been accepted. "When the correspondence 
relating to this offer was laid before Congress, Clay made a 
brief speech in which he could not resist taunting the Presi- 
dent with the course he had pursued in the affair. " In his 
message of December last," said Clay, " he made an explana- 
tion almost in the very language required by the Due de 
Broglie. This explanation was made with two objects in 
view. The first was to get with France all the merit of 
making an explanation ; and the next was to get with the 



Ch. VII.] EVENTS THAT LED TO THE CIVIL WAR 267 

people of the United States the merit of not making any 
explanation at all. I am truly glad that France saw the 
subject in the true light. The moment she saw the explana- 
tion, she made arrangements to pay the money. France saw 
that while the President protested that he would not ex- 
plain, he did explain ; and that while protesting that he 
would not apologize, he did apologize." The offer of me- 
diation was as eagerly accepted by the French government 
as by that of the United States, and soon resulted in a satis- 
factory adjustment of the difference. It enabled both par- 
ties to cloak their indiscretion in a cloud of verbose palaver, 
the usual medium of diplomacy for effecting an honorable 
outcome in such cases. This accomplished, the money was 
paid. 

It is now necessary to approach a subject which, though 
not new, assumed at this session an unwonted and persist- 
ent importance in public attention. 

Much of the literature pertaining to our political history 
has, in a sense, been written backward. The history of the 
entire period preceding the Civil War has generally been 
treated as the preliminary to that great struggle. Nearly 
every event, however small or remote, showing the existence 
of a more or less active antislavery sentiment, has been 
magnified beyond its real significance. This is the neces- 
sary result of history written to maintain a proposition and 
of biography to create seers and heroes. A history of the 
country is, of course, inadequate that fails to trace the slow 
development of the antislavcr}' - movement until it attained 
the proportions of a distinct and continuous political fac- 
tor; but a like consideration applies to each of the numer- 
ous elements that enter into the history of a people. The 
error of omission is not Greater than the fault of distension. 



268 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

It is not designed here to resurvey this over-cultivated field. 
It is only needful to restore the salient facts to the propor- 
tions they then had in the popular mind. 

It is probable that slavery would have become extinct in 
the South, as it did in the North, but for the cotton culture, 
which rapidly increased after the invention of the cotton- 
gin and machinery for the production of cotton fabrics. It 
does not heighten the glory of the North that the oppo- 
sition to slavery there had its origin in the humane and 
philosophic opinions of the early Southern statesmen, and 
developed only after slavery had become extinct in that 
section because free labor was more profitable. Until the 
slave-trade had fallen under the ban of the law and the 
decent opinion of the world it was prosecuted to a large 
extent by New-Englanders. 1 But it was certain that when 
any considerable class came to have no material interest to 
serve in maintaining or ministering to slavery a crusade 
against it would begin : the natural instinct of aversion to 
it would be liberated and the abolitionist become inevita- 
ble. Nevertheless, open and active opposition grew but 
slowly. The powerful interests of commerce and manu- 
facture profited by the striking difference in the economic 
conditions of the free and the slave States. In the latter, 
planting was almost the sole interest; hence the business of 
the former was not only relieved of Southern competition, 
but was there given a large and virtually exclusive market 
besides so long as the policy of protection survived. More- 
over, odious as slavery was in some of its phases, and in all 
so repugnant to natural justice and the first principle of 
our polity, every practical mind knew that it could not be 

1 Butler's Book, p. 81 ; Tyler's Taney, p. 337 ; Democratic Review, vol. 
xxvi. p. 4. 



Ch. VII.] GROWTH OF ANT1SLAVERY SOCIETIES 269 

abolished without force, and that force was out of the ques- 
tion. The Constitution recognized and indirectly legalized 
it ; thus in the common opinion the moral responsibility for 
it rested alone upon the South — the North was absolved. 
This general situation, combined with politics, long recon- 
ciled the body of the Northern people to slavery in the 
South. 

Antislavery societies were not a novelty. Such organiza- 
tions had existed from an early period, but they were not 
numerous, and exerted no appreciable influence. Their 
usual object was the advocacy of gradual emancipation. 
After 1S30, through the fanatical ardor of such zealots as 
Garrison, the formation of antislavery societies received a 
new impetus. By 1837 no fewer than twelve hundred of 
them had been organized, and, for a year or so, at nearly 
the rate of one a day. The purpose, boldly proclaimed, of 
most of them was to agitate immediate and unconditional 
abolition. The seat of this movement was in the Eastern 
States and its chief medium the New England Antislavery 
Society, formed in 1S32. Garrison's Liberator, published at 
Boston, soon became the leading organ of the radical abo- 
lition element, although it was some years before it gained 
much circulation. It made him the most conspicuous of the 
extreme abolitionists. He was a man of small talent and 
an eccentric of the most pronounced type. His power lay 
in his fearless and tireless energy, which made him proof 
against hardship and persecution. His writings had some 
merit, but for the most part they were verbose, frothy, and 
ranting. Had he and his followers been more practical 
they would have acquired a stronger and speedier influence. 
Not content with preaching abolition, Garrison urged so 
many other things having no relation to slavery that he 



270 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

repelled many who were disposed in principle against sla- 
very, but who did not care to be in such bizarre company. 
Most of the early abolitionists resembled Garrison in eccen- 
tricity of mind, which displayed itself in a variety of ridicu- 
lous ways, and thus brought the whole class into general 
contempt. 1 Their combined efforts produced little else, be- 
sides bringing slavery into discussion, than local irritation 
here and there, which was intensified by the ferocious feel- 
ing they aroused in the South. So strongly were their 
operations deprecated by the mass of the Northern people 
that frequently the apostles of abolition were mobbed and 
maltreated. In some places it was impossible to procure 
rooms and buildings in which to hold their meetings and 
conventions. Even the churches were generally closed 
against them. 

The vital weakness of the Garrison element was the recog- 
nition, which could not be avoided, of the Constitutional 
warrant of slavey. This compelled the agitators to assail 
the Constitution itself, which they styled in Biblical phrase, 
a covenant with death and an agreement with hell. In- 
stead of directing their efforts to some practical mode of 
furthering their object, the}'' merely clamored. The con- 
sequence was that as the antislavery element increased in 
number and ability a schism developed. It was perceived 
by the more sagacious that nothing substantial could be ac- 
complished save through political means — the organization 
of an antislavery party of voters. And there was little 
wisdom or method in the cause until this was done, and 
restriction rather than abolition was the ostensible policy. 



1 Stanton's Random Recollections, p. 69; Life ofR. H. Dana,\6\. i. p. 69 ; 
Adams's Diary, vol. ix. p. 255 ; Goodell's Slavery and Antislavery, p. 460 ; 
Life and Times of Birney, pp. 256, 278, 293. 



Ch. VII.] ANTISLAVERY PROPAGANDA BY MAIL 271 

This dissension hampered and delayed the cause for some 
years. So slow was its political progress that in 1840 the 
Liberty party cast but one vote in three hundred and sixty. 

From these facts it is apparent that until the Twenty- 
fourth Congress the antislavery agitation was but a ripple 
on the general surface of affairs. Most people paid little 
attention to it, and it did not enter as a direct factor into 
the common currents of thought and activity. But now the 
Southern Senators and Eepresentatives adopted a course 
that forced the subject into novel prominence and unwit- 
tingly aided what it was intended to suppress. 

From the beginning, one of the principal means of foment- 
ing the agitation was the dissemination of abolition writ- 
ings through the mails ; and they ranged through every de- 
gree, from temperate argument to the wildest paroxysms 
of arraignment. Great quantities of such matter, including 
inflammatory prints, were thus sent into the South. 1 This 
was not only exasperating to the intense pride of the South- 
ern people, but it was believed by them to be designed to 
incite the slaves to insurrection. The fear of such a possi- 
bility was unfeigned, although the conduct of the slaves 
during the Rebellion proves that it was unfounded. The 
insurrection led by Nat Turner in 1831 prompted the dread 
that this most horrible of all calamities might be generally 
precipitated. For this reason the extreme feeling against 



1 " These pictures were smuggled amongst the slaves in many ways. 
The wrappers of packages of goods, such as tobacco and other articles 
consumed by slaves, were upon their inner sides covered with pictures 
representing the slaves in chains and rags, with lordly masters holding 
scourges in their hands ; and many other designs of like character were 
impressed upon articles of dress and pieces of paper smuggled into goods 
consumed by the blacks and thus sent amongst them." — Ormsby's History 
of the Whig Party, p. 373. 



272 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

the abolitionists was not without palliation ; it was natural 
that their reckless operations should be viewed as incen- 
diary and infernal. Another cause of the sensibility of the 
South on the subject of slavery was the consciousness that 
wherever the institution existed in other countries it was 
losing ground. The sentiment of civilization was gradually 
crystallizing against it. In Great Britain a movement had 
been started some years before to abolish slavery in the 
colonies, and in 1833 it ended in success. This freed the 
slaves in the West Indies and brought closely home to the 
South the possible danger of the agitation in the North, 
which had its immediate inception in the British example. 1 
But though the growing sentiment of the world against sla- 
very was recognized at the South, it did not change the 
conviction there as to the propriety of the institution. 
The consequence was only to harden opinion and render 
the South more watchful of hostile influences. The South- 
ern people had from their infancy been accustomed to 
negro slavery. Most of them had been nursed by slaves, 
and were as familiar with the aspect of slavery as with the 
natural conditions of existence. 2 It had become the foun- 



1 " Wilberforce and his coadjutors commenced their labors in the anti- 
slavery cause just at the period of the adoption of the United States Con- 
stitution. It was about that period that Parliament, under the Wilber- 
force movement, began to agitate the abolition of the slave-trade ; and the 
speeches of the British orators, the books and essays of British authors, 
and the songs of British poets, vividly portraying the foul sin of slavery, 
were instantly reproduced, perused, and wept over in New England. 
Cowper's spirited poem, which came forth at that period, no doubt inspired 
millions of hearts with hatred of slavery." — Ormsby's History of the Whig 
Party, p. 83. 

2 Calhoun told Adams in 1820 that "domestic labor was confined to 
blacks, and such was the prejudice that if the most popular man in his dis- 
trict were to keep a white servant in his house his character and reputation 
would be irretrievably ruined." — Adams's Diary, vol. v. p. 10. 



Ch. VII.] THE ABOLITION PETITIONS 273 

elation of their social fabric and represented a great part of 
their wealth. They had come to look upon it as absolutely 
essential to them, and on the whole as more beneficial than 
freedom to the slaves, whom they regarded as an inferior 
race, fit only for bondage ; and doubtless the majority of 
the slaves were well treated and contented. While these 
considerations do not justify the institution, they must be 
borne in mind in judging fairly the temper and attitude of 
the South. 

Another phase of the agitation were the abolition peti- 
tions. They were in many forms and urged various pro- 
ceedings, from the most tentative and restricted to the most 
radical and irrational. Most of the petitions, however, were 
for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. 
They were often couched with violent license of language, 
describing slavery and the slave-holders in a manner that 
aroused the deepest ire of the Southern members. It was 
asserted on the floor of the House that during the session 
the number of the signers of the petitions was about thirty 
thousand, of whom one-half were women and a large pro- 
portion of the remainder minors. For several years this 
mode of bringing the subject before Congress had been re- 
sorted to, but the petitions were received and laid on the 
table without comment. This silent reception did not in 
the least discourage the petitioners. More and more of the 
documents were prepared and offered until at this session 
their unusual number, together with the progress of the 
agitation in other ways, provoked a protest. The aboli- 
tionists had at last penetrated the Capitol. 

In the House the petitions were challenged very soon 
after the opening of the session and gave rise to frequent 
scenes of angry discussion and disorder. They were so 

18 



274 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

irritating that some of the Southern members strenuously 
sought to prevent the reading and reception of them, and 
in some cases were successful, notwithstanding the outcry 
that the procedure was against the Constitutional right of 
petition. But as new provocations were continually arising 
by the appearance of fresh petitions, it became necessary to 
adopt some general rule in regard to them. At length, on 
February 8, Pinckney, of South Carolina, introduced a reso- 
lution from which was finally evolved what has always 
been known as the " gag " rule. It was afterward divided 
into three : (1) that Congress had no power to interfere in 
any way with slavery in any State ; (2) that it ought not to 
interfere in any way with slavery in the District of Colum- 
bia ; and (3) that all petitions, memorials, resolutions, prop- 
ositions, or papers relating in any way to the subject of 
slavery should, without being either printed or referred, 
be laid on the table, and that no further action whatever be 
had upon them. After an excited debate they were adopt- 
ed, May 26 ; the first by a vote of 128 to 9 ; the second, 132 
to 45 ; the third, 117 to 68. This action was signalized by 
the conduct of John Quincy Adams, who then began his 
remarkable course of opposition to slavery and defence of 
the right of petition. On the adoption of the last resolu- 
tion he refused to vote. According to the sober journal of 
the House, " When the name of Mr. Adams was called, that 
gentleman arose and said : ' I hold the resolution to be a 
direct violation of the Constitution of the United States, 
the rules of this House, and the rights of my constituents.' 
Mr. A. resumed his seat amid loud cries of ' Order !' from 
all parts of the hall." His course was the more startling 
because he had previously presented abolition petitions and 
expressed his disapproval of their object. 



Ch. VIL] ADAMS AND THE RIGHT OF PETITION 275 

It was at this time that his peculiarities of mind began 
entirely to dominate him. He was old, and without chance 
or desire for preferment. That he was willing, after having 
been President, to be a member of the House was deemed by 
many as evidence of eccentricity. Yet his age, experience, 
and unique power in debate rendered his position, despite 
the violent antipathy and ruthless treatment he encoun- 
tered, formidable in that body and influential in the North. 
Probably nothing aided so much at that juncture in enlist- 
ing the attention of thoughtful men who had been hostile 
or indifferent to the antislavery agitation as Adams's per- 
sistent efforts in battling for the right of petition and 
against the slave interest. He possessed what the aboli- 
tionist agitators lacked — instinctive perception of every 
point that the fury of his adversaries made vulnerable. 
He wasted no energy on abstractions and met each con- 
crete question with practical weapons. His strong mind, 
unwearied industry, and wide attainments formed a solid 
foundation for his courage and keenness in debate. He 
was far from being an orator in the usual sense. Before 
entering the House, although he had sat in the Senate, he 
had little experience in public speaking. But, with a mo- 
tive, he was not long in that arena in becoming a danger- 
ous antagonist. 1 In directness, sarcasm, ridicule, and retort 
he was nearly as withering as Kandolph, though in a differ- 
ent style. Fear was unknown to him. He was often the 
centre of scenes of frenzied commotion that his bold senti- 
ments and bitter words created. No denunciations, abuse, 



1 "Mr. Adatns wrote with a rapidity and ease which would hardly be 
suspected from Ins somewhat measured style. Notwithstanding the finish 
of his sentences, they were, like Gibbon's, struck off at once and never had 
to be retouched." — Everett's Works, vol. ii. p. 590. 



276 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

or threats could change his course. Nor did he lose his 
temper — men of such acrid intellect and caustic tongue sel- 
dom do. This made his opponents all the more exasperated 
and furious, and led them into conduct that steadily corrod- 
ed friendly sentiment in the North. 

Whatever the public interest in the action of the House, 
it was much greater in that of the Senate. The House was 
the theatre of so much incubating ambition and demagogic 
display that it did not impress the country like the Senate, 
which contained most of the political chieftains and public 
men of greatest ability and distinction. The proceedings 
of the House, therefore, on the subject of slavery, were 
largely dictated from the Senate, which thus became the 
focus of public attention. If anything had been lacking in 
Calhoun's recent course to show that he had become pos- 
sessed by the one controlling purpose of guarding slavery, 
it was now disclosed. Thus far slavery had been the indirect 
object of his solicitude ; to protect it directly was now stern- 
ly announced by him to be his paramount and unyielding 
aim. He was the acknowledged head and front of the 
slave interest and the dictator of its policy. His command- 
ing position was j 7 ielded with full consent ; his great pres- 
tige, powers, and intensity of purpose placed him beyond 
all env^y and rivalry. He was the embodiment of his cause. 
Through the fiat of his example all apologetic defences of 
slavery were haughtily thrown aside. He and his followers 
defiantly proclaimed that it was not an evil, but a positive 
good, and that its security was the price of preserving the 
Union. His stand against abolition petitions and publica- 
tions revealed the Southern determination to insist upon the 
most radical and extreme measures to further the dominant 
purpose. 



Ch. VII.] TO CURB INCENDIARY PUBLICATIONS 277 

In the preceding summer the excitement in Charleston 
was so intense that the post-office was, without much dif- 
ficulty, rifled of a quantity of abolition publications, which 
were destroyed. The postmaster at New York was requested 
to prevent the further transmission of such matter. He ap- 
plied for instructions to the Postmaster-General, Amos Ken- 
dall, who answered that there was no legal authority to ex- 
clude matter from the mails, and that such a power would 
be dangerous ; yet he virtually advised that course. He as- 
sured the postmaster at Charleston that " we owe an obli- 
gation to the laws, but a higher one to the communities 
in which we live ; and if the former be perverted to destroy 
the latter, it is patriotism to disregard them." The Presi- 
dent, in his annual message, expressed himself pointedly in 
relation to "the painful excitement produced in the South 
by attempts to circulate through the mails inflammatory 
appeals addressed to the passions of the slaves, in prints and 
various sorts of publications calculated to stimulate them to 
insurrection and to produce all the horrors of a servile war" ; 
and recommended the enactment of a law prohibiting under 
severe penalties the circulation of incendiary publications 
through the mails. Calhoun at once moved to refer this part 
of the message to a select committee. The motion met with 
some resistance. It was urged that the matter should be 
referred instead to the standing Committee on Post-offices ; 
and that reference to a special committee would give the 
subject too much prominence and provoke unnecessary dis- 
cussion and excitement. But Calhoun insisted, and the mo- 
tion prevailed. 

Pending the report, the other branch of the general ques- 
tion, already tormenting the House, was taken up. January 
7, two petitions to abolish slavery in the District being pre- 



278 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

sented, Calhoun moved that they be not received. He 
pronounced them "a gross, false, and malicious slander upon 
eleven States"; and argued that inasmuch as Congress had 
no jurisdiction over slavery either in the States or in the 
District, the petitions demanded a violation of the Constitu- 
tion, and should therefore be peremptorily rejected. That 
the language of many of the petitions presented would have 
justified this rejection is undeniable ; but this objection, had 
it been generally utilized, as it was occasionally, would have 
accomplished nothing except to render the Avording of 
petitions less offensive ; it did not go to the root of the 
matter. The assumption that Congress was without power 
to abolish slavery in the District was based on the theory 
that the States which ceded the District to the government 
being slave States, there was an implied condition or com- 
pact guaranteeing slavery in the District. But this proposi- 
tion was indefensible and was entertained by few men. The 
procedure demanded by Calhoun would in effect have been 
the denial of the right of petition, and as such it was strong- 
ly opposed even by most of the Southern Senators. Some of 
them, indeed, severely criticised it as tending in itself to fur- 
ther the agitation. He frankly gave to the petitions a grave 
importance. " "We must," said he, " meet the enemy on the 
frontier — on the question of receiving ; we must secure that 
important pass— it is our Thermop}da3. The power of resist- 
ance, by a universal law of nature, is on the exterior. Break 
through the shell, penetrate the crust, and there is no resist- 
ance within. In the present contest the question on receiv- 
ing constitutes our frontier. It is the first, the exterior 
question, that covers and protects all others. Let it be pen- 
etrated by receiving this petition, and not a point of resist- 
ance can be found within, as far as this government is con- 



Ch. VII.] CLAY AND THE ANTISLAVERY PETITIONS 279 

cerned." January 11, Buchanan presented an abolition peti- 
tion and moved that it be read and the prayer rejected. 
Calhoun at once demanded that the question whether the 
petition should be received be first taken. The debate con- 
tinued intermittently until March 9, when the motion to re- 
ceive was carried, 36 to 10. 

Clay was emphatically in favor of receiving the petitions, 
and went as far as any Northern Senator in his desire to put 
them through the form of respectful consideration. In his 
opinion, the right of petition required of the servants of the 
people that they should examine, deliberate, and decide either 
to grant or refuse the prayer of a petition and to give the rea- 
son for the decision. This he thought would "carry conviction 
to every mind, satisfy the petitioners of the impropriety of 
granting their request, and thus have the best effects in put- 
ting an end to the agitation of the public mind on the sub- 
ject." He further declared his belief that slavery was justi- 
fied by its necessity ; that were he a Southern man he would 
resist emancipation in every form, gradual or other, because 
the white race was superior, and because emancipation would 
necessarily give the blacks eventually a numerical prepon- 
derance. He proposed, as an amendment to Buchanan's mo- 
tion to reject forthwith, a resolution asserting the practi- 
cal reasons, without affirming or denying the Constitutional 
power, why Congress should not abolish slavery in the Dis- 
trict. But as it did not meet with approval he withdrew it, 
and a few days afterward voted for the original motion, 
which was carried, 34 to 6. After some further discussion 
the subject was laid on the table for the session. 

Meantime the select committee appointed on Calhoun's 
motion made its report. Much of it was not concurred in 
by a majority of the committee. It was written by Calhoun, 



280 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

and was substantially a treatise on bis tbeory of tbe Consti- 
tution as well as of slavery, and tbe relations among tbe 
States in regard to it. Tbe tendency of tbe views it ex- 
pressed was regarded as inimical to the Union ; even King, 
of Georgia, one of Calhoun's colleagues on tbe committee, so 
asserted. Tbe report was accompanied by a bill which. pro- 
vided that it should be criminal for any postmaster know- 
ingly to receive and put into mail any written, printed, or 
pictorial matter concerning slavery directed to any post- 
office or person in a State where the circulation of such mat- 
ter was prohibited by law ; and that if such matter should 
be deposited and not withdrawn within a month after notice 
to withdraw it, it should be destroyed. It was further made 
the duty of the entire department, from the Postmaster-Gen- 
eral down, to co-operate in the enforcement of the law. 

The bill was much debated. Clay opposed it. He argued 
that the harm of such matter did not come from sending it 
through the mails, but from the use of it afterward ; hence 
that the States had exclusive jurisdiction to prevent its 
being taken from the post-offices to which it was sent. For 
this reason he denied the Constitutional power of Congress 
to enact such a law, which was really designed to aid the 
enforcement of State laws. He also challenged the right to 
designate persons or classes who should have the benefit of 
the mails and exclude all others. Moreover, he contended 
that the bill would be practically inoperative, as the post- 
masters were to be held accountable only when they 'know- 
ingly delivered the prohibited matter — a condition difficult 
to prove. These views prevailed. After much political 
manoeuvring, the bill was defeated, 25 to 19. The only 
Northern Senators to vote for it were Buchanan and tbe 
two from New York, Wright and Tallmadge, who were no 



Ch. VII.] MICHIGAN AND ARKANSAS MADE STATES 281 

doubt actuated by the political desire not to injure Van 
Buren. Indeed, it was so arranged that he gave the cast- 
ing vote on a preliminary question, to show that he was not 
opposed to the bill. 

These, however, were but the more conspicuous phases of 
the slavery question, that now began to assert itself through 
every avenue which the protection and advancement of the 
institution suggested. At this session Michigan and Arkan- 
sas applied for admission into the Union, the former as a 
free and the latter as a slave State. Both encountered 
varied opposition, but succeeded. Michigan had been an 
applicant for some three years and Arkansas for nearly as 
long; but Congress had not authorized either to form a 
constitution and provide for a State government. For this 
reason their action was deemed irregular by many. Clay so 
regarded it, and voted against the admission of both. The 
slavery question did not assume a formidable bearing, osten- 
sibly because it was generally conceded, even by Adams, that 
the terms of the Louisiana purchase and the Missouri Com- 
promise warranted slavery in Arkansas if the State chose 
to permit it. But the fact remains that neither State would 
have been admitted without the other. Their simultaneous 
admission preserved the sectional equilibrium for which 
the admission of Missouri and Maine had established the 
precedent. 1 The chief source of the opposition was the un- 
doubted desire of the Whigs to postpone the admission of 
both States until after the Presidential election, which was 
soon to occur. It was quite certain that both would choose 
Democratic electors. 

Notwithstanding the extreme sensitiveness on the subject 

1 The admission of Kentucky and Vermont, Mississippi and Indiana, un- 
doubtedly prepared the way. 



2S2 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

of slavery which, the proceedings of the session had pro- 
duced, Benton undertook the apparently impossible feat 
of enlarging Missouri. It was already one of the largest 
States in the Union, and the territory which it was proposed 
to annex, a fertile domain as large as Ehode Island, con- 
sisted of Indian lands under treaty. But the most serious 
obstacle was that the project involved a departure from the 
lines of the Compromise, thus converting free into slave 
soil. Yet there was manifest propriety in the plan, as it 
would symmetrize the proportions of the State by filling 
out the northwest corner. Perhaps it was this consider- 
ation mainly that allayed the danger of opposition ; for 
Benton's efforts were entirely successful. The project was 
managed with so much tact that it received little public 
notice or discussion in Congress. The bill passed quietly 
through both houses and became a law. A new treaty 
with the Indians was made and ratified, and the State as- 
sumed its present outlines on the map. 

Another phase of the slavery question that vexed the 
session in so many ways was the asserted independence of 
Texas. The first stage of Texan independence was the 
overthrow of Spanish dominion by Mexico, of which Texas 
formed a part. Early in 1824 Mexico established a republi- 
can constitution resembling that of the United States. It 
joined Texas and Coahuila as one State, and three years 
later a State constitution was formed. Both the national 
and State governments, however, were little more than 
nominal. The former was frequently shaken by changes of 
administration, usually accomplished by force ; hence its 
authority sat lightly on the States more remote from the 
City of Mexico, the seat of the national government. In 
1S30 the vast area of Texas, nearly 270,000 square miles, 



Ch.VIL] THE INDEPENDENCE OF TEXAS 283 

contained a population of only 21,000, whites and negroes 
combined, of which the greater part had come from the 
United States. The joinder of Texas and Coahuila was ill- 
advised, the population of the latter being almost entirely 
Mexican. Coahuila dominated the legislature and caused 
the enactment of a law forbidding the further immigration 
of American settlers. But this law, like the provision in 
the constitution prohibiting slavery, had no practical effect 
except to embitter the Texans against everything Mexican. 
Although this law was afterward repealed, the dissensions 
among the irreconcilable elements of the State increased 
until at length the Texans demanded a separate State gov- 
ernment. This being refused, they revolted, declared their 
independence, and began, under the leadership of Sam Hous- 
ton, the war that eventually achieved it. 1 

The struggle for independence naturally aroused keen in- 
terest throughout the United States ; and as the war at the 
outset was attended by barbarous atrocities on the part of 
the Mexicans, that interest was quickened into patriotic 
S} T mpathy, which rapidly recruited the ranks of the revolu- 
tionists. Behind this was the ever-present desire for terri- 
torial expansion ; for it was assumed that the establishment 
of independence by Texas would be followed by its admis- 
sion into the Union. This outcome was the studied design 
of the South, as frankly declared by Calhoun, because it 
would bring an enormous accession to the slave interest ; 
yet this consideration did not seriously influence popular 



1 It has been commonly asserted that Houston, with Jackson's tacit 
consent, went to Texas for the purpose of overthrowing the Mexican gov- 
ernment there. — Parton's Jackson, vol. iii. p. 655; Von Hoist's Constitu- 
tional and Political History of the United States, vol. ii. p. 562. This is 
denied, on apparently good grounds, by Houston's most recent biogra- 
pher. — Williams's Houston, p. 74. 



284 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

sentiment at the North, where that national pride which 
resisted secession in 1861 was more potent than the fear of 
sectional advantage to the South. As soon as information 
of the progress of the Texan cause spread through the coun- 
try Congress was petitioned by individuals, public meetings, 
and legislatures, North and South, to recognize the inde- 
pendence of Texas. Precise information, however, upon 
which the government could act with propriety, came but 
slowly. 

June 2-i, in response to a resolution of the Senate, the 
President reported that he was without such knowledge, 
but had taken measures to obtain it. Nevertheless, Con- 
gress was disposed to do something to gratify the popular 
demand. July 1, the Senate adopted resolutions declaring 
that " the independence of Texas should be acknowledged 
whenever satisfactory information has been received that 
it has in successful operation a civil government capable 
of performing the duties and fulfilling the obligations of 
an independent power," and expressing satisfaction with the 
effort of the President to gain that information. The first 
was introduced a month before by Clay, from the Committee 
on Foreign Relations, although he preferred not to have it 
acted upon at this session. "With the development of the 
slavery question his attitude in regard to Texas had changed. 
He had severely criticised Monroe's administration for re- 
linquishing to Spain, by the Florida treaty, our claim to 
Texas under the Louisiana purchase, and while Secretary of 
State he proposed the purchase of Texas from Mexico. He 
was now reluctant to promote in any way the growing dis- 
cord over slavery. Pacification was his policy and his pas- 
sion. The resolutions were empty and useless except to 
indicate what would be done if a suitable pretext offered. 



Ch.VII] DEATH OF MADISON 285 

Nine days later similar resolutions "were adopted by the 
House. Thus closed the first scene of what was to prove a 
devious and bloody drama. Congress then adjourned. 

A few days before the adjournment the venerable Madi- 
son died. He was the last of the eminent early states- 
men, and was long regarded as the political mentor of 
the country. His writings shed invaluable light on some 
phases of our history, particularly Constitutional. The gen- 
eral scheme of the Constitution is more large!}'' his concep- 
tion than that of any other member of the convention. No 
American statesman except Hamilton so well deserves the 
title of publicist. The most serious disparagement of this 
title is his approval of the restrictive measures preceding 
the War of 1S12. The purity of his character, the seren- 
ity of his mind, the poise of his judgment, the depth of his 
patriotism, and his watchful interest in public affairs nat- 
urally attracted throughout his long retirement the esteem 
and homage of public men without distinction of party. 
This is well illustrated by his relations with both Jackson 
and Clay. It is related that he was roused from his bed by 
Edward Livingston, the author of the nullification procla- 
mation, to pass his opinion on the document before it was 
published; and that the suggestions and amendments he 
proposed, sitting in his night-dress between two spluttering 
candles, were eagerly adopted. Between him and Clay, de- 
spite their early disagreements, a strong friendship had de- 
veloped. Their correspondence shows the cordial regard 
they had for each other. Shortly before Madison's death 
he expressed to a mutual friend his admiration of Clay's 
success in compromising differences that threatened the per- 
manence of the Union, and the hope that he might be equal- 
ly successful in pacifying the dread dissension over slavery. 



286 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

" I wish," said Madison, " he could fall on some plan of 
compromising this, and then all parties, or enough of all 
parties, might unite and make him President." 

For years Madison had been president of the American 
Colonization Society, which was formed in 1817, in accord- 
ance with a plan originally projected during the Revolution. 
The object of the society was the transportation of free 
negroes to Africa, primarily because of the fear that they 
would incite insurrections among the slaves. The society 
and its branches were long regarded with general favor, 
even by the abolitionists, and were aided by legislation, 
appropriations, and donations during the dubious vicissi- 
tudes attending the finally successful establishment of the 
colony of Liberia. From the first, Clay had been zealously 
interested in the society. He was chairman of the first 
meeting called at Washington preliminary to the forma- 
tion of the society, and continued in active connection with 
it. Upon Madison's death he succeeded him as president. 
By this time, however, the society had lost favor with the 
abolitionists. "With the progress of the antislavery agitation 
they had gradually come to the conclusion that the scheme 
of colonization, instead of being a valuable adjunct to their 
cause, was a disguised auxiliary to slavery, and as such 
they began to denounce it. 1 Garrison waxed violent against 
it, and therefore against Clay. Only a few years before, 
Clay had been his political idol. At the annual meeting of 
the society in 1827, Clay delivered an address extolling its 



1 In December, 1837, there were fift3 r -niue votes in the House against 
a motion to allow the society to hold its annual meeting in the hall, ac- 
cording to its custom. The reason for these adverse votes does not ap- 
pear ; but the number is about the same as supported Adams in his efforts 
to procure the reception of the abolition petitions. 



Ch. VII] CLAY AND THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY 287 

operations and aspirations. He was so emphatic in declar- 
ing his antipathy to slavery as to gain the ecstatic admiration 
of its most radical opponents. " If I could be instrumental," 
he exclaimed, "in eradicating this deepest stain upon the 
character of our country and removing all cause of reproach 
on account of it by foreign nations ; if I could only be instru- 
mental in ridding of this foul blot that revered State that 
gave me birth, or that no less beloved State which kind- 
ly adopted me as her son, I would not exchange the proud 
satisfaction which I should enjoy for the honor of all the 
triumphs ever decreed to the most successful conqueror." 
And this is a fair specimen of the frankness with which he 
always expressed himself on slavery in the abstract. But 
there was a striking inconsistency in his characterization of 
the free negroes and his description of the results they would 
accomplish if transported. " There is," said he, " a moral 
fitness in the idea of returning to Africa her children, whose 
ancestors have been torn from her by the ruthless hand of 
fraud and violence. Transplanted in a foreign land, they will 
carry back to their soil the rich fruits of religion, law, and 
liberty. May it not be one of the great designs of the Ruler 
of the Universe, whose ways are often inscrutable by short- 
sighted mortals, thus to transform an original crime into a 
signal blessing to that most unfortunate portion of the globe ? 
Of all classes of our population the most vicious is that of 
the free colored. It is the inevitable result of their moral, 
political, and civil degradation. Contaminated themselves, 
they extend their vices to all around them, to the slaves and 
to the whites. . . . Every emigrant to Africa is a missionary 
carrying with him credentials in the holy cause of civiliza- 
tion, religion, and free institutions." Yet this glaring in- 
consistency seems to have attracted no marked attention 



288 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

at the time; neither did the utter impracticability of the 
scheme to effect any diminution of the free negro popula- 
tion, although the results thus far totally refuted the argu- 
ments and promises of the society. 1 At all events, Garrison 
was satisfied. When Clay retired from the Department of 
State, in 1829, he made a speech at a dinner given in his 
honor which roused Garrison to the highest pitch of de- 
voted enthusiasm. " Henry Clay," he wrote, " at this mo- 
ment stands on a higher eminence than he ever before 
occupied. His attitude is sublime — his front undaunted — 
his spirit unsubdued. It is impossible to read his noble 
speech without mingled emotions of pride, indignation, 
reverence, and delight." And in the following year he de- 
scribed Clay as " the champion who is destined to save the 
country from anarchy, corruption, and ruin." Clay was 
then his candidate for President. But soon after this his 
ardor was quenched by his rapidly increasing frenzy against 
slavery ; and he was finally to contribute in no small degree 
to defeat the Presidential aspirations of his former hero. 

At the close of the first session of the Twenty -fourth Con- 
gress, Clay seriously contemplated retiring from the Sen- 
ate. He decided, however, not to resign, but to complete 
his term, which expired March 3, 1S37, intending to refuse 
a re-election. "While the Senate was Whig there had been 
some satisfaction in leading the majority. But all branches 
of the government were now strongly Democratic. Even 
the political tendencies of the Supreme Court had changed. 



1 "The whole amount of the colonization of manumitted slaves in 
eighteen years ending in 1835 was eight hundred and nine, equal to the 
increase of the slave population for five days and a half ! . . . Up to this 
time the funds raised by the society amounted to $220,449, and it had in- 
curred a debt of §45,645." — Goodell's Slavery and Antislavery, p. 344. 



Ch. VII.] TANEY A SUPREME COURT JUSTICE 289 

Five of the seven justices were Jackson's appointees. The 
last two were Barbour and Taney. The confirmation of 
the latter was bitterly opposed by the "Whigs and filled 
them with deep disgust. To Jackson it was a source of 
vindictive delight. The refusal of the Senate to confirm 
the nomination of Taney for Secretary of the Treasury in- 
fused Jackson with a fierce determination to place Taney 
on the Supreme Court bench, where his Constitutional 
views would work greater and more enduring havoc to the 
Whig party than any mere political influence could accom- 
plish. Upon the resignation of Justice Duval, in January, 
1833, Taney was nominated to fill the vacancy. But the 
Senate deferred action until the last day of the session, 
when the subject was indefinitely postponed on the pretext 
that a new arrangement of the circuits was proposed. This 
was equivalent to rejection. In the following summer 
Chief-Justice Marshall died ; and, with the changes in the 
membership of the Senate, Jackson was able to compass his 
darling project more impressively than he had before con- 
ceived. 1 

Strongly intrenched in every avenue to power, the Demo- 
cratic party was in a state of organization and discipline 
hitherto unknown in American politics. It appeared invin- 
cible for a long' time to come. That Van Buren was to suc- 



1 "Mr. Clay had long ago, in the presence of Reverdy Johnson, made 
a personal apology for the style of his remarks upon his [Taney's] nom- 
ination to the Senate, and paid the highest possible tribute to his great 
judicial abilities. And ever after Mr. Clay, as his many letters to the 
Chief-Justice show, seemed to strive for the generous forgiveness of the 
Chief-Justice, and by his courteous and kind bearing. And the many in- 
stances in which Mr. "Webster sought the counsel of the Chief-Justice on 
matters of state show his estimate of his great capacity and wisdom." — 
Tyler's Taney, p. 317. Because of Taney's opinion in the Dred Scott case, 
Sumner was very bitter toward him. — Sumner's Works, vol. ix. p. 274. 
19 



290 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

ceed Jackson was as well understood as any future political 
event can be. The design was undisguised, and all available 
means were employed to execute it. Had he been President 
the court and consideration he received could hardly have 
been more distinguished. His candidacy was generally ac- 
ceptable to the party. The Jacksonian mandate was suf- 
ficient to remove all ordinary obstacles. But no adverse 
chance was to be taken by delay. In May, 1835, nearly 
eighteen months before the election, the Democratic Na- 
tional Convention was held at Baltimore. As this mode 
of nomination had been but recently instituted, it was not 
popular with the masses. Yet this mattered little. The 
convention was manned by office-holders and unflinching 
partisans of the administration. Van Buren was quickly 
and unanimously nominated. In the ensuing canvass there 
was no vital defection. Calhoun, of course, was still in 
lonesome hostility. Aside from this, the only open rebellion 
of any account centred in Tennessee ; for, with all his influ- 
ence, Jackson was unable to control his own State either as 
to the nomination or in the election. Hugh L. White, a 
former adherent of Jackson, and a Senator from Tennessee, 
was nominated in Tennessee, Alabama, and Illinois. Jus- 
tice McLean, of Ohio, another of Jackson's former adhe- 
rents, was also a candidate ; but he received no electoral 
votes. Clay recognized the hopelessness of defeating Yan 
Buren, and refused to be a candidate. The "Whigs were 
therefore disintegrated and presented three candidates — 
Harrison, Webster, and Mangum. Harrison, however, was 
the most general representative of the party in the contest, 
and received 73 electoral votes. Webster was loyally sup- 
ported by Massachusetts, and received her 14 votes. Man- 
gum received South Carolina's 11 votes. White received 



Ch. VII.] VAN BUREN NOMINATED FOR PRESIDENT 291 

26 votes, those of Tennessee and Georgia. Van Buren re- 
ceived 170, a majority of 16 over the combined votes of his 
rivals. The Vice-Presidency had now relapsed into its for- 
mer inconsequence. No candidate received a majority of 
the votes, hence the Senate dutifully elected Richard M. 
Johnson, who had been nominated with Van Buren. He 
was a worthy man, but without much political importance. 
He augured no hinderance to future designs. 

Analysis of the Democratic victory over the dissociated 
elements of the opposition boded danger to the party. The 
popular vote of those elements was only about 25,000 less 
than Van Buren's, which was nearly 100,000 less than Jack- 
son's in 1832. Van Buren's chief strength was in the North 
and East, then as now quickly responsive to the commercial 
and financial interests ; and to thoughtful observers indica- 
tions already portended the approach of disaster. That the 
West was so strong for Harrison vividly demonstrated that 
the tactics of the more active and practical managers of the 
Whig party, following the example that led to Jackson's 
elevation, were well grounded. They listened to the outcry 
of their Senatorial chieftains against military reputation as 
a means of Presidential preferment, but proceeded never- 
theless with exclusive view to success and patronage. Van 
Buren's candidacy was an efficient illustration. It evoked 
no enthusiasm. His personality and career were the com- 
plete obverse of Jackson's. The popular taste, which had 
been cultivated by the bold and belligerent character and 
exploits of " Old Hickory," still plainly preferred military 
renown and martial vigor to merely civic qualifications. 
Clay was beginning painfully to perceive it ; and he was 
soon to be the victim of it again. 

He spent the recess at Ashland studying events, harvesting 



292 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

his crops, and watching his fine herds of live-stock. The 
only incident to mar the quiet tenor of these occupations 
was to be attacked by one of his bulls, that gored and 
killed the horse Clay was riding. He was bruised by his fall, 
but not otherwise injured. Before the details of the elec- 
tion were fully known he was again at his post in the Sen- 
ate. The session opened December 5, and proved a fitting 
climax to Jackson's public career. 

Historical criticism that bestows upon opposing political 
elements about the same measure of praise and blame is not 
always difficult and has the aspect of fairness, but it is apt 
to be superficial. Yet a candid survey of our political his- 
tory during the administrations of Jackson and Yan Buren 
compels substantially this conclusion. For the heated and 
ofttimes frantic struggles during this period over questions 
that should have had no connection with politics, both par- 
ties were guilty in nearly the same degree. It is amazing 
that statesmen of experience, understanding, and ability 
should, through zeal for partisan advantage, have been so 
led to disregard the fundamental interests of the country. 
The first requisite of national prosperity is sound and un- 
disturbed finance ; yet for years this vital matter was the 
football of politics. 

The remote origin of this protracted contest undoubtedly 
lay in Jackson's belligerent temperament and the swift and 
narrow working of his mind. Men do not become philoso- 
phers after sixty — much less do men of Jackson's type. He 
came into the Presidenc} 7 " with all his traits and defects not 
only incorrigible, but accentuated by his political success 
and the remarkable fealty of his party. The character and 
mental attributes of a human being were never more un- 
mistakably revealed by physical appearance than by Jack- 



Ch.VIL] SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF JACKSON 293 

son's. His figure was tall, spare, erect, and commanding. 
His features were worn and seamed, but fixed and strong. 
His steady, deep-set eyes, shadowed by shaggy brows, had 
a piercing gleam. His lips, when not suavely relaxed, had 
a rigidly firm and defiant expression. His hair was white, 
dense, and bristling, and an appropriate crown to a bearing 
and individuality that no stranger could meet without start- 
ling recognition. As with all such characters, he was some- 
what superstitious : if he could avoid it he would not begin 
anything on Friday ; and probably he was more or less a 
believer in his destiny. Any opposition to his plans and 
purposes he took as a personal affront ; for he always as- 
cribed the basest motives to his opponents. From this habit 
of mind, coupled with his tremendous resolution to accom- 
plish whatever he desired to do, proceeded his implacable 
hatred of his political adversaries. He no doubt sincerely 
believed that Adams's election over him in 1S24 was a das- 
tardly political crime. Thenceforth he saw nothing good 
in anything proposed or done by any party to that trans- 
action. He already hated Clay for his speeches on the 
Seminole war; and this feeling quickly embraced all who 
followed Clay's lead. Thus Jackson's temper and com- 
bativeness compressed the free elements that soon formed 
the Whig party, whose leaders fully reciprocated Jackson's 
hostility. The inevitable result was that partisanship too 
often excluded statesmanship. Had the bank kept scru- 
pulously within its proper sphere, Jackson probably would 
not have seriously attempted its overthrow ; certainly he 
could not have succeeded. In his annual messages a few 
abstract paragraphs against the institution would have 
satisfied his conscience and proved harmless. But when 
his enemies spurned all compromise and made the existing 



294 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

policy of the bank a political issue, and transformed the 
bank's enormous powers into political functions, war with- 
out quarter began, regardless of consequences. "When Jack- 
son conceived, on good grounds, that the public funds were 
loaned through political considerations in the interest of 
the Whig party, the most powerful instinct of his nature 
was aroused. He could not have been moved by a deep 
regard for the public interests or for the safety and proper 
use of the deposits, for in distributing the revenues among 
the " pet banks " he gave opportunity for the same charge 
against the administration that he had urged against the 
bank, although the clanger of some improprieties in the de- 
posit and use of the funds was removed by the bill passed 
soon afterward. Like all the other proceedings concerning 
the bank, his course was chiefly induced by political strategy. 
But the principal evil resulting from it was not favoritism 
to borrowers — though it was shown to the deposit banks — 
but the stimulus it gave to abnormal inflation of values, and 
hence to speculation. And this unhealthy condition was 
furthered and intensified by the vicious and demagogical 
scheme of depositing the surplus revenues with the States — 
a scheme upon which both parties had united a few months 
before the election. Jackson signed the bill for the same 
reason that most of the Senators and Representatives voted 
for it — the fear of popular disfavor. It is not probable that 
he would have sanctioned it without Van Buren's assent, 
as he was the one to be most directly affected politically. 
But so rapidly had the disastrous consequences of political 
finance begun to threaten that Van Buren, before the elec- 
tion, expressed emphatic disapproval of the scheme; and 
by the time Congress reconvened, Jackson had repented 
his approval of it. He now fully perceived its dangerous 



Ch. VIL] EVILS ARISING FROM SURPLUS REVENUE 295 

tendencies, and elaborately stated in his message the rea- 
sons against it. 

Notwithstanding the manifest lessons and logic of the 
situation, distribution continued to be invincibly popular, 
and rnairy prominent members of both houses of Congress 
were eager to press the policy beyond the scope of the de- 
posit bill. Many other schemes were presented ; the fungi 
of political and sectional rapacity multiplied and differen- 
tiated on this muck -heap of public plunder. Perhaps the 
worst feature of the whole matter was the lamentable con- 
dition into which the popular mind had fallen in the pres- 
ence of this temptation. It was strikingly evinced by a 
wanton disregard of the express letter of the deposit bill, 
which explicitly provided that the funds were to be merely 
deposited with the States, loaned, and therefore subject to 
recall. This was bad enough, yet very few regarded the 
process as anything but an absolute distribution, gift. 
During the debates on the bill this purpose was openly 
proclaimed. The people generally so regarded it ; and so 
it ultimately proved to be. 1 Aside from the popularity of 
the measure, the Whigs, to a large extent, favored it be- 
cause it would materially reduce the federal funds in the 
deposit banks and thus deprive the administration of so 
much political leverage. From any point of view, it was a 



1 In a speech in January, 1841, Clay said : "The Senator from New York 
[Wright] has adverted to the twenty-eight millions of surplus divided a 
few years ago amoug the States. He has said, truly, that it arose from the 
public lands. Was not that, in effect, distribution ? Was it not so under- 
stood at the time ? Was it not voted for by Senators as practical distribu- 
tion ? The Senator from North Carolina [Mangum] has stated tliat he did. 
I did. Other Senators did ; and no one, not the boldest, will have the 
temerity to rise here and propose to require or compel the States to refund 
that money. If, in form, it was a deposit with the States, in fact and in 
truth it was distribution. So it was regarded. So it will ever remain." 



296 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

flagrant makeshift to remedy an unwholesome condition 
produced by equally pernicious causes. 

Early in the session, Clay, undaunted by the previous fail- 
ures of his land-money distribution bill, introduced it again ; 
but it went no further, as the Committee on Public Lands, 
to which it w T as referred, reported a substitute providing 
that the lands should be only sold to actual settlers and in 
limited quantities. Two days after Clay had introduced his 
familiar bill, Calhoun presented one providing that the de- 
posit law be extended to any surplus above $5,000,000 that 
might exist after January 1, 1838. In the South, distribution 
was considered rather as a partial recompense for the bur- 
den of an inequitable tariff than a matter of financial policy. 
Calhoun did not say this, but no doubt it was his opinion. 
He expressed the belief that inasmuch as the surplus was 
unavoidable it should not be left in the Treasury, and that 
it was more safe and equitable that the States should have 
the use of it in preference to the banks. " This, in fact," 
said he, "is the great and leading principle which lies at 
the foundation of the act of the last session — an act that 
will forever distinguish the Twenty -fourth Congress — an 
act which will go down with honor to posterity, as it has 
obtained the almost unanimous approbation of the present 
day. The passage has inspired the country with new hopes. 
It has been beheld abroad as a matter of wonder, a phenom- 
enon in the fiscal world, such as could have sprung out of no 
institutions but ours, and which goes in a powerful and im- 
pressive manner to illustrate the genius of our government." 
It is hard to believe that this was Calhoun's candid judg- 
ment. It is more likely that he intended it for political ef- 
fect. The bill was rejected. He then proposed the cession of 
all the public lands to the several States in which they were 



Ch. VIL] PROJECTS TO DISPOSE OF THE SURPLUS 297 

situate, to be sold by those States, one-third of the proceeds 
to be paid into the federal Treasury. This was vigorous- 
ly opposed, and it failed. It was stigmatized, to Calhoun's 
irritation, as a direct bid for popular favor in the West. 

Meanwhile the House was not barren of projects to dis- 
pose of the surplus. One member made bold to attempt 
the embodiment in law of the prevailing desire to declare 
the proposed deposits irreclaimable. He moved to instruct 
the Committee on Ways and Means to report a bill to that 
effect. The motion found strong support, but was defeat- 
ed. Another member proposed the direct cession to the old 
States of lands equal in quantity to those which had been 
granted to the new States. This proposition was summarily 
laid on the table. Still another member moved Calhoun's 
first proposal, to extend the deposit bill. This was finally 
attached to the fortifications bill and passed. The Senate 
disagreed, but the House adhered ; thus the bill failed, and 
its first object, appropriations for the defences of the coun- 
try, was incontinently balked. Such were the efforts, not 
to mention the various amendments proposing minor and 
less inclusive schemes offered in both houses, b} r which un- 
seemly greed and reckless political ambition sought to de- 
bauch the country. But here the problem remained until 
general bankruptcy solved it. 

After the rally from the panic of 1833 the fairly sound 
condition of the currency was due to the force of circum- 
stances rather than to the system. The status of the bank 
compelled it to extreme prudence, while the local banks, in 
order to satisfy the requirements of the Treasury Depart- 
ment before they could obtain deposits of the public money, 
had made themselves reasonably secure. The increase of 
population, the development of the country, the progress 



298 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

of invention, and the expansion of enterprise which the 
period exhibited, indicated phenomenal prosperity and 
promised still greater. Thousands of miles of new rail- 
roads and canals, hundreds of new steamboats, and the 
propulsive activities of commerce and business, inspired the 
people with industrial valor and energy seldom witnessed. 
Prices of all products rose steadily, and for a time 
healthily. Cotton and timber lands advanced in value 
wondrously and were briskly followed by agricultural and 
urban property. 1 The final extinguishment of the national 
debt, a marvel in European eyes, enormously enhanced 
American credit abroad, and a vast amount of foreign cap- 
ital was immediately invested here. A large part of the 
bonded debts of the States was thus absorbed; and with 
such facility could money be borrowed in this way that 
many States were rashly precipitated into further debt for 
extravagant projects of public improvements. Private en- 
terprise received similar impetus and aid, and with the same 
results. 

To a certain degree much of this was sound ; but it soon 
produced what extreme national prosperity always develops 



1 " Under this process prices rose like smoke. Lots in obscure villages 
were held at city prices ; land bought at the minimum cost of government 
was sold at from thirty to forty dollars per acre, and considered dirt cheap 
at that. . . . Money, got without work, by those unaccustomed to it, 
turned the heads of its possessors and they spent it with a recklessness like 
that with which they gained it. The pursuits of industry were neglected, 
riot and coarse debauchery filled up the vacant hours. . . . The old rules 
of business and the calculations of prudence were alike disregarded, and 
profligacy, in all departments of the crimen falsi, held riotous carnival. 
Larceny grew not only respectable, but genteel, and ruffled it in all the 
pomp of purple and fine linen. Swindling was raised to the dignity of the 
fine arts. Felony came forth from its covert, put on more seemly habili- 
ments, and took its seat with unabashed front in the upper places of the 
synagogue." — Baldwin's Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi, p. 83. 



Ch.VIL] RECKLESS CREATION OF BANKS 299 

— undue distension of values and the spirit of speculation. 
To accommodate the fictitious thrift that now set in, and 
without regard to real financial necessity or prosperity, new 
banks were organized on every side. Thus bank capital, 
circulation, and loans inordinately increased without a cor- 
responding basis of specie. And for the lavish accommo- 
dation to borrowers the administration was partly respon- 
sible, for it expressly recommended to the deposit banks 
liberality in the use of the public money. The moneyed in- 
terest of the country seemed beset with financial dementia: 
banks were thought the magical means of creating wealth 
out of paper. It was this situation that rendered the scat- 
tering of the public funds among this rank growth of banks 
so harmful. Its encouragement to speculation, especially in 
the public lands, was prodigious. In the first instance, the 
lands were bought at the insignificant figure fixed by law. 
They were then sold and resold, and the multiplied pro- 
ceeds invested in fresh purchases from the government. 
By these means the best and most attractive lands were 
being speedily disposed of. To dispassionate observers the 
results of this process had reached alarming proportions. 
Benton, with his usual acumen in such matters, perceived 
the situation and introduced a bill to prohibit the accept- 
ance by the government of anything but specie in payment 
for the public lands ; but the bill did not pass. Both parties 
were stubbornly against it. Many members of Congress 
were either deeply concerned in these speculations or had 
numerous constituents who were. Even the cabinet vigor- 
ously disapproved of any interference. But despite this un- 
toward opposition, Benton convinced the President of the 
virtue of the measure, although he had recently declared in 
a message that the great increase in the revenue from the 



300 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

land sales was a gratifying mark of national prosperity and 
development of agriculture. And it should be remarked of 
Jackson that he was always ready to change his impulsive 
opinions — if his prejudices were not involved — when con- 
vinced that they were wrong. A conspicuous instance of 
this was his change of attitude toward distribution ; for in 
two of his early messages he had announced his disapproval 
of that course. The incontestable fact was that the accu- 
mulating surplus came largely from the public lands, and 
it was apparent that unless Benton's plan was soon enforced 
the surplus would be in danger of being composed of irre- 
deemable paper. Knowing that Congress would not in- 
terfere, the President accepted Benton's urgent advice and 
resolved to adopt an heroic measure. He waited until Con- 
gress adjourned ; then, forthwith, over the remonstrance of 
a majority of the cabinet, carried out his purpose. At the 
President's request, Benton drafted an order requiring the 
Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the land officers to 
receive after August 15 only gold, silver, and land -scrip, 
for the public lands, except from actual settlers or hona-jide 
residents in the State where the sales were made. Until 
December 15 each of this latter class of purchasers was per- 
mitted to buy any quantity of land not exceeding three hun- 
dred and twenty acres, and pay in the usual way. These 
conditions were authorized by law. The order was at once 
obeyed by the issue of the " specie circular." It arrested 
many millions of dollars in process of transmutation into 
real estate. 

The commotion this flat produced was wide-spread and 
violent. Unlike the removal of the deposits, it had no 
partisan aspect and evoked no merely political demonstra- 
tions. Every individual, every interest, and every bank con- 



Ch. VII.] EFFECT OF THE SPECIE CIRCULAR 301 

cerned directly or indirectly in land speculations felt the 
blow. Not only were the immediate operators checked and 
their hopes of affluence rudely blighted, but they suddenly 
found themselves in unexpected jeopardy of being land poor 
or paper poor ; for the indirect consequences of the order 
were far-reaching and powerful. It was a vexatious incon- 
venience to transport specie from the East, whence it had 
to come ; and its withdrawal made it scarce and costly. 
The money centres had begun to discern the phantasy of 
the paper system. Besides this, the time for making the 
order was most inopportune for speculation. The banks 
were providing for the first instalment of the distribution 
among the States. Foreign resources were also curtailed 
by fundamental causes similar to those existing here. Thus 
every financial influence was conspiring to embarrass the 
money-market; and the myriad of borrowers were driven 
to pay exorbitant rates to protect their inflated investments. 
When the specie circular was issued, unforeseen and un- 
imagined, the shock at first was paralyzing. There broke 
forth a wail of consternation, quickly followed by explosions 
of boisterous wrath. Many of Jackson's devoted followers 
turned upon him and reviled him. For those who had pre- 
viously opposed him no epithets or denunciations were ade- 
quate in which to vent their feelings. All the time-worn 
terms that had been applied to Jackson's acts — absolutism, 
tyrann} 7- , usurpation, ignorance, perversity, and the like — 
were far too feeble. The terrible chorus of invective and 
reprobation that arose has never been equalled in our his- 
tory. But the grim old man, hardened to clamor and ob- 
loquy, was unmoved. Though the appalling condition that 
menaced was in part his own creation, whether or not he 
recognized the fact, he did not falter in the course he had 



302 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

taken. He was ready to strike again if necessary. And it 
became necessary. 

The meeting of Congress was anxiously awaited in the 
hope that the President's arbitrary edict, issued in recess, and 
in defiance of the well-known opinion of both the Senate 
and the House, would be abrogated. Shortly after Congress 
reconvened, the parliamentary process was started. Senator 
Ewing, of Ohio, a conspicuous figure in his day, impressive- 
ly set it in motion by introducing joint resolutions, which 
afterward took the form of a bill, to rescind the specie 
circular and restore the former practice. A long and in- 
termittent debate ensued. The Whigs led the onset with 
their accustomed vigor. They charged the President with 
every dishonorable motive, from a desire to aid the deposit 
banks to a wilful disregard of positive law, while Demo- 
crats mildly argued against the policy. Benton, almost 
single-handed, bore the brunt. His responsibility for the 
measure was understood, and the battle in the Senate be- 
came virtually his personal affair. At one time the dis- 
cussion became so heated that he again nearly involved 
himself in a duel. But the most important result, as it 
proved, of his untiring labor, was to protract the debate 
until toward the close of the session. The main cause of 
this was that the debate was soon diversified by other re- 
lated topics, particularly the currency, which for years had 
been Benton's almost incessant theme. It underlay all his 
various struggles against the bank. This primal thought 
in all his financial discussion is shown by a passage, which 
strikingly exhibits his characteristic combination of sense 
and pomposity, in one of his speeches on the bill to rescind 
the circular: 

" The present bloat," said he, " in the paper system can- 



Ch. VII.] BENTON ON HIS FINANCIAL POLICY 303 

not continue ; the present depreciation of money, exempli- 
fied in the high price of ever} 7 thing dependent upon the 
home market, cannot last. The revulsion will come, as 
surely as it did in 1819-20. But it will come with less 
force if the Treasury order is maintained and if paper 
money shall be excluded from the federal Treasury. But 
let these things go as they may, and let reckless or mis- 
guided banks do what they please, there is still a refuge 
for the wise and the good; there is still an ark of safety 
for every honest bank, and for every prudent man : it is the 
mass of gold and silver now in the country — the seventy- 
odd millions which the wisdom of President Jackson's ad- 
ministration has accumulated — and by getting their share of 
which all who are so disposed can take care of themselves. 
Sir, I have performed a duty to myself, not pleasant, but 
necessary. This bill is to be an era in our legislation and 
in our political history. It is to be a point upon which 
future ages will be thrown back and from which future 
consequences will be traced. I separate myself from it; I 
Avash my hands of it ; I oppose it. I am one of those who 
promised gold, not paper. I promised the currency of the 
Constitution, not the currency of corporations. I did not 
join in putting down the Bank of the United States to 
put up a wilderness of local banks. I did not join in putting 
down the paper currency of a national bank to put up a 
national paper currency of a thousand local banks. I did 
not strike Ca?sar to make Antony master of Rome." 

Calhoun's course was peculiar. He said that he put no 
faith in the measure to arrest the downward course of the 
country; that he believed the state of the currency was 
almost incurably bad, so that it was doubtful whether the 
highest skill and wisdom could restore it to soundness, and 



304 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

that it was destined at no distant time to undergo an entire 
revolution; that he considered an explosion inevitable, and 
so much the greater the longer it was delayed. Yet he 
declined to vote because he was not prepared to state his 
reasons at large for the vote that he might cast. Webster 
strove to give the bill the sanction of his ponderous legal 
authority; and Clay supported it in his usual style in a 
speech similar to one he had made to his constituents be- 
fore the session opened. It was finally passed by the Sen- 
ate, 41 to 5. The thoroughness of the debate there, how- 
ever, deprived the House of an opportunity to invest the 
subject with any novelty ; but there were sufficient discus- 
sion and delay to prevent the bill, which was passed by 
the House, 143 to 59, from reaching the President until the 
day before the dissolution of Congress and his own retire- 
ment. He neither signed nor vetoed it. In political par- 
lance, he "pocketed it." He treated it as he had Clay's 
land bill. He announced his determination in a short mes- 
sage, but placed it on the ground that the provisions of the 
bill were too complex and of doubtful meaning. Perhaps 
he thought it unnecessary to state his paramount reasons — 
unalterable resolution to maintain the circular, and the as- 
surance that Congress would override a veto. It was al- 
most the last of his official acts and one of the most vividly 
characteristic of the man and his Presidential independence. 
His subsequent critics, following the outcry raised at the 
time, have regarded his action in retaining the bill as a vio- 
lation of the spirit of the Constitution. It is charged that 
he despotically thwarted the legislative power, preventing 
by his own individual caprice and obstinacy the enactment 
of any law whatever on the subject. That vague essence 
denominated the " spirit of the Constitution " has alwa} r s 



Ch. VII.] THE SPECIE CIRCULAR CONSTITUTIONAL 305 

been the refuge of theorists as well as of those who have 
sought to distend the letter of that instrument for political 
purposes. It has thus been made to mean anj^thing or 
nothing, according to the necessity of the occasion. The 
Constitution is the organic law ; and, being such, the only 
safety in construing it lies in the logic of civilized jurispru- 
dence. Where its terms are clear and express they are to 
be taken in their common and obvious meaning ; and what 
they explicitly permit is Constitutional and valid whatever 
the consequences may be. The President is a factor in the 
legislative power. That he has the Constitutional right to 
retain a bill without approval or veto when it is not present- 
ed to him until within ten days of the adjournment of 
Congress is as certain as language can make it. Jackson's 
procedure, therefore, cannot be justly challenged on any 
Constitutional ground. That he had the legal right and 
power to make the specie order is likewise open to no 
rational doubt. Neither Webster nor Clay, nor any other 
competent lawyer in sympathy with their attitude toward 
the circular, could he have divested himself of his personal 
and political prejudices, would have argued before a judicial 
tribunal that it was not legally justified. That power was 
granted by a joint resolution adopted by Congress and ap- 
proved by the President in 1816, which therefore had all 
the force of a formal statute. Simply stated, the question 
was, Does the word " or," as used in the resolution, mean 
" and " ? The resolution directed the Secretary of the Treas- 
ury to adopt such means as he deemed necessary to cause 
" all duties, taxes, debts, or sums of money accruing or be- 
coming payable to the United States to be collected and 
paid in the legal currency of the United States, or Treasury 
notes, or notes of the Bank of the United States as by law 
20 



306 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1836 

provided and declared, or in notes of banks which are pay- 
able and paid on demand in said legal currency of the 
United States." It then needlessly added that " no such 
duties, taxes, debts, or sums of money . . . ought to be 
collected or received otherwise than in the legal currency 
of the United States, or notes of the Bank of the United 
States, or Treasury notes, or notes of banks which are pay- 
able and paid on demand in said legal currency of the 
United States." Beyond doubt the resolution granted the 
power of selection, and hence of exclusion. Nor was the 
practical construction of precedent wanting. The power of 
prohibiting the acceptance of specified classes of paper had 
been repeatedly exercised and without question. Craw- 
ford, while Secretary of the Treasury under Monroe, had 
exercised it several times ; and Rush, under John Quincy 
Adams, had exercised it twice. Legally considered, there- 
fore, the specie circular was valid. The question whether 
or not it was financially right is of course debatable ; yet 
it scarcely admits of just criticism. It did not accomplish 
the good it might had it been issued sooner ; but had it 
been, it would certainly have been overruled by Congress. 
As it was, it had comparatively slight effect, for the over- 
shadowing crisis was close at hand. But it performed some 
service — to the prudent it was a warning, to the imprudent 
a restraint, and it stayed further waste of the public domain. 



CHAPTER VIII 

The Recognition of Texas — The Mexican Claims — International Copy- 
right— Slavery— Benton's Resolution to Expunge the Senate's Censure 
of Jackson for the Removal of the Deposits— The Final Preparations — 
The Debate — Clay's Speech, Buchanan's Speech, and "Webster's Pro- 
test — The Resolution Adopted and Executed— Jackson's Gratification — 
Analysis of his Presidency— Clay Decides to Remain in the Senate 

Beyond the usual routine laws, the session was not pro- 
lific of legislation. The three months of its duration were 
mostly consumed in debate. Like the distribution schemes 
and the bill to rescind the specie circular, an effort to reduce 
the tariff failed. Late in February, after stout opposition, 
the Senate passed a bill for that purpose ; but it made little 
progress in the House, where a similar bill had already been 
under discussion without avail. Clay indignantly combated 
the plan, which he imputed to the administration, as an ex- 
hibition of bad faith toward the Compromise of 1S33. He 
spoke with much feeling and narrated at some length his 
part in that measure, which for years was the source of ex- 
planation, accusation, and retort. 

The disposition to recognize the independence of Texas 
was more successful. In a special message the President 
reported such information as he had acquired touching the 
status of Texas, but he was not satisfied that it 3 7 et war- 
ranted the government in recognizing it as an independent 
state. He advised delay, but expressed his willingness to 
co-operate with the judgment of Congress. By this time 



308 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

the popular desire was not to be overcome. March 1, the 
Senate adopted a resolution, 23 to 19, that Texas be recog- 
nized as an independent state. Clay was not present when 
the vote was taken, and probably he was not in favor of 
the resolution ; but the next day he voted against a motion 
to reconsider, which was barely lost by an equal division. 
While the House was not disposed to adopt a formal reso- 
lution to recognize the independence of Texas, it inserted 
in the appropriation bill a provision for the expense of a 
diplomatic agent to the " republic of Texas " — whenever 
the President received satisfactory evidence that it was an 
independent power and he should deem it expedient to send 
a minister. As originally introduced, the provision was un- 
equivocal and called for immediate action ; the appropria- 
tion was for " the salary and outfit of a diplomatic agent 
to be sent to the independent government of Texas." But 
as modified it was regarded, as it was intended to be, as 
equivalent to an express declaration that independence be 
recognized. It answered the purpose. 

Closely connected with this subject was a series of diffi- 
culties with Mexico, which had for some years been grow- 
ing more aggravated, arising on one side from the claims 
of our citizens for injuries inflicted by the Mexicans, and on 
the other from the overbearing and hostile action of our 
government and of our troops along the frontier. The im- 
pulsive Mexican Minister at length involved himself in a 
violent quarrel with the administration, demanded his pass- 
ports, and wrathfully left the country. Our claims were so 
strongly maintained by the government that they rapidly 
multiplied in number. Many of them were spurious or 
grossly exaggerated, and the friction between the two gov- 
ernments increased, Mexico being naturallv angered at the 



Cii. VIIL] TEXAS AN INDEPENDENT STATE 309 

feeling prevalent in this country in favor of Texas. And 
the conclusion is irresistible that the course of the admin- 
istration was chiefly guided by the purpose of embroiling 
Mexico in the interest of the ultimate annexation of Texas. 
After unsuccessfully pressing the claims for a time with in- 
continent zeal, our charge d'affaires left Mexico with a 
swaggering show of indignation. The administration was 
strongly inclined to forcible measures. In a special mes- 
sage, February 7, the President said : " The length of time 
since some of the injuries have been committed, the re- 
peated and unavailing applications for redress, the wanton 
character of some of the outrages upon the property and 
persons of our citizens, upon the officers and flag of the 
United States, independent of recent insults to this gov- 
ernment and people by the late extraordinary Mexican 
Minister, would justify in the eyes of all nations immediate 
war." But to evince " wisdom and moderation," he recom- 
mended the passage of an act authorizing reprisals if 
Mexico should not "come to an amicable adjustment of 
the matters in controversy between us upon another de- 
mand thereof from on board one of our vessels of war on 
the coast of Mexico." The Senate Committee on Foreign 
Relations, of which Buchanan was now chairman, made 
a report sustaining for the most part the views of the 
President, but presented a resolution that fell just short of 
approving the radical means he had proposed. It declared 
in careful and temperate phrase that the Senate concurred 
with the President that another demand for redress should 
be made, in the usual mode, and if the effort proved unsuc- 
cessful " a state of things will then have occurred which will 
make it the imperative duty of Congress promptly to con- 
sider what measures may be required by the honor of the 



310 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1S37 

nation and the rights of our injured fellow-citizens." It was 
unanimously adopted. In the House, resolutions of somewhat 
similar import, but more vigorous, were also adopted. In 
the face of this demonstration it was supposed that the 
weakness of Mexico would compel acquiescence. It should 
be observed that the Senate has, until of late years, usually 
shown more commendable caution in international complica- 
tions than the Executive Department has been wont to prac- 
tise. The House, on the contrary, has generally inclined, 
regardless of party, to countenance the President in such 
flourishes, because of its closer relations with the people. 
This has demonstrated the wisdom of excluding it from the 
treaty-making function. 

Clay spoke in support of the Senate resolution, but took 
occasion nevertheless to criticise the report of the committee, 
and indirectly the administration. He said that the case 
against Mexico as stated by the committee was stronger 
than the evidence warranted ; that the situation did not 
justify either war or reprisals; and that the Mexican Min- 
ister and our charge d'affaires were both at fault for their 
precipitate action. But he endeavored to soften the censure 
of the Minister's misconduct in publishing a pamphlet on 
the grievances of his country and himself by relating in his 
mellowest manner an anecdote of his experience while a 
peace commissioner at Ghent, and also recounting another 
circumstance that had recently occurred. To this talent for 
felicitous speech, so often employed by him, Clay owed 
much of his peculiar influence ; and it is worth while, as an 
illustration, to quote this part of his impromptu remarks. 

" While up," said he, " I will take the opportunity of say- 
ing that I do not concur in all the reasonings of the com- 
mittee as to the publication of a pamphlet by Mr. Goros- 



Ch. VIII.] THE MEXICAN TROUBLES 311 

tiza, the Mexican envoy extraordinary. I will say, however, 
that it was a great diplomatic irregularity ; but I do not 
think it makes out a case for war or for any serious disturb- 
ance. It is not an unusual case. I recollect an instance 
which occurred while the American commissioners were at 
Ghent, in 1814, at a most critical state of the negotiation — 
when it hung, as it were, on a balance, and when it was 
doubtful whether there would not be a rupture. While I 
was treating with Lord Gambier and the other British 
commissioners, a publication from the United States con- 
taining the correspondence between the governments 
of the United States and Great Britain found its way 
there. Lord Gambier, having seen it, expressed his sur- 
prise to me that my government should have given pub- 
licity to this correspondence, and said he could not see 
how they could justify the act. The other commission- 
ers were equally displeased at the occurrence. I then ex- 
plained to them that the course which had been adopted 
was one growing out of the peculiar structure of this gov- 
ernment and which the people here demand of their ser- 
vants. I mention this to show that what Mr. Gorostiza has 
done is not a thing unexampled. It will be remembered 
that the other day Mr. Pageot, the French Minister, just 
before embarking for France from New York, published a 
letter of the Due de Broglie. Mr. Pageot has since returned 
to this country and has been received frankly and without 
any intimation of dissatisfaction on the part of our govern- 
ment. And I have no more doubt of the fact than of my 
standing on this floor at this moment that there had been 
information conveyed through some channel, official or un- 
official, to France that Mr. Pageot's return to the United 
States would be welcomed without any displeasure being 



312 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

shown toward him in regard to his having published the 
letter of the Due de Broglie ; otherwise the French govern- 
ment would not have sent him to this country. Had Mr. 
Gorostiza not known the fact of this publication, he prob- 
ably would not have pursued the example set him." 

Clay's liberality of opinion in matters not political was 
shown by the interest he took in an effort by foreign au- 
thors to procure the benefit of copyright in this country. 
Their case was confided to his care. He presented their 
memorials and enforced them with brief observations fav- 
oring the request. Shortly afterward he also presented the 
petition of several American authors, doubtless prepared as 
a remonstrance, to amend the existing law in their interest. 
They complained that because American publishers could 
print British works without expense of copyright, they could 
not obtain a fair compensation for their works ; and, carry- 
ing the theory of protection to its full limit, they be- 
sought Congress to prohibit entirely the publication of for- 
eign works. This sordid suggestion, it is gratifying to know, 
met with no encouragement. In fact, it was soon repelled by 
a large number of other American authors, who, in enlight- 
ened contrast, urged that the benefit of our copyright laws 
be extended to foreigners. Clay took this just view. His re- 
marks on presenting the first petition excellently stated the 
broad argument for international copyright. In the course 
of his remarks on presenting the petition of the hostile 
American authors, he gave this account of the piratical en- 
terprise of American publishers in appropriating foreign 
works : 

" I understand that the course of this business is that 
American booksellers have their agents in Great Britain, 
who as soon as a new work makes its appearance transmit 



Ch. VIII.] CLAY AND THE AMERICAN PUBLISHERS 313 

it to them by the first packet. Sometimes it is received 
from the packet at The Narrows, and the vessel being de- 
tained there a short time, from some cause or other, by the 
time she arrives at the wharves the work is published and 
ready for distribution. This extraordinary despatch is ef- 
fected by means of steam-presses and the hundreds of hands 
employed by some of the booksellers. The consequence is 
that the work is often slovenly published, on bad paper, 
with bad types, and omitting maps, diagrams, engravings, 
and other illustrations. This the first publishers feel them- 
selves constrained to do, lest some rivals shall publish a 
cheaper edition than that which they have issued. Pur- 
chased in this defective form, no one can get the genuine 
production of the British author without sending abroad 
for it, as is sometimes done." 

The petitions were referred to a select committee, of which 
Clay was made chairman. A report was soon presented and 
a bill introduced in accordance with his views ; but it went 
no further. 1 Nor was the principle of this bill incorporated in 
the copyright laws until 1891, after several fruitless attempts. 

At this session the slavery question would have engaged 
little attention but for an episode that occurred in the 



1 Buchanan said : " Cheap editions of foreign works are now published 
and sent all over the country so as to be within the reach of every indi- 
vidual ; and the effect of granting copyrights asked for by this memorial 
would be that the authors who were anxious to have their works appear 
in a more expensive form would prevent the issuing of these cheap edi- 
tions ; so that the amount of republications of British works in this coun- 
try, I think, would be at once reduced to one-half. But to live in fame is 
as great a stimulus to authors as pecuniary gain ; and the question ought 
to be considered whether they would not lose as much of fame by the 
measure asked for as they would gain in money. It is especially well 
worthy of the committee to go beyond publishers and ascertain what 
would be the effect on the acquisition of knowledge in this vast country." 



314 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

House. Abolition petitions in the familiar forms were in- 
deed plentiful, but in consequence of the prolonged excite- 
ment they had previously provoked they had lost much of 
their agitating effect and were taken largely as a matter of 
course. As soon as they were presented they were tabled 
under the " gag," which was now a fixture in the rules. 
Moreover, the other topics of the session had engrossed so 
much attention that the House had become quite indifferent 
to the tireless function of John Quincy Adams as the main 
channel of presenting the petitions. One morning, how- 
ever, he aroused the slumbering fury of the Southern mem- 
bers in a most unexpected and exasperating way. After 
presenting some two hundred ordinary petitions he said 
that he had a paper on which, before it was presented, he 
desired the decision of the Speaker. It was a petition from 
twenty-two persons declaring themselves to be slaves. He 
wished to know whether such a paper came within the 
order of the House. The Speaker, James K. Polk, at once 
perceived, with evident embarrassment, what was imminent. 
He replied that he could not tell unless he was in possession 
of its contents. Mr. Adams also appreciated the conse- 
quences, and with that technical dexterity of which he was 
master, he took care not to render himself vulnerable. He 
said that if the paper were sent to the clerk's table it would 
be in possession of the House, and if sent to the chair the 
Speaker could see what were its contents. " Now I wish 
to do nothing," he continued, " except in submission to the 
rules of the House. This paper purports to come from slaves, 
and it is one of those petitions which have occurred to my 
mind as not being what they purport to be. It is signed 
partly by persons who could not write, by making their 
marks, and partly by persons whose handwriting would 



Ch. VIII.] ADAMS PRESENTS A SLAVES' PETITION 315 

manifest that they had received the education of slaves. 
The petition declares itself to be from slaves, and I am re- 
quested to present it. I will send it to the chair." By this 
time the apathetic members of the House began to discover 
what was taking place. Objection was made to the paper 
going to the chair, and the Speaker anxiously expressed his 
desire to obtain the sense of the House. 

The tumult and frenzy of the scenes and debate that fol- 
lowed were never exceeded in all the subsequent course of 
the antislavery agitation in Congress. The boundless rage 
of the Southern members at first blinded them to parlia- 
mentary law and usage as well as to the precise apprecia- 
tion of what Adams had actually said and done. He was 
assailed with insult and vituperation. The first impulse of 
the enraged members vented itself in shouts to expel him. 
Then came resolutions that he be called to the bar and cen- 
sured. For several days the storm of angry discussion con- 
tinued, Adams maintaining his position with marvellous 
courage, coolness, and skill. Time after time resolutions 
were proposed and withdrawn, and amendments, modifica- 
tions, and substitutes offered. But the turmoil gradually 
subsided, and when the House became sufficiently composed 
to appreciate the precise facts of the affair it reached 
a very temperate conclusion. It adopted two resolutions 
with a preamble. The latter did not even mention Adams's 
name, but merely stated the naked question first suggested 
by him, whether the petition came within the rule. The 
resolutions were, first, that the petition could not be re- 
ceived by the House without disregarding its own dignity, 
the rights of a large class of citizens in the South and West, 
and the Constitution of the United States; second, that 
slaves did not possess the right of petition secured to the 



316 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

people by the Constitution. Adams and seventeen others 
voted against both. Despite this fortunate outcome, candor 
must admit that admiration for the wonderful audacity and 
ability Adams displayed throughout the fearful ordeal should 
be tempered by the reflection that the affair was needlessly 
provoked and did more harm than good. 1 

In "the Senate the slavery question remained quite inert. 
Aside from a pointed and threatening speech by Calhoun 
against abolition petitions, the only notable revival of it was 
over a petition of the colonization society, presented by 
Clay, for a corporate charter to enable it to hold and con- 
vey lands. Calhoun at once opposed it. He had become as 
strongly hostile to the society as the abolitionists had, but 
for entirely opposite reasons. His attitude was the result 
of that minute watchfulness and refined logic which led 
him to scrutinize every proposition suggested, to discern 
any lurking possibility of an adverse bearing on slavery. 

" The Senator from Kentucky," said he, " must know that 
a great diversity of opinion exists among the wisest and 
best men of the country as to the ultimate good to be effect- 
ed by this society ; and that the prevailing opinion of the 
great body of the people of the South is against it. ... A 
mysterious Providence has brought the white and black 

1 " I remember one day to have been on the floor of the House when 
he attacked Mr. Wise with great personality and bitterness. In allusion 
to the Cilley duel, with which he was connected, he spoke of him as coming 
into that assembly, 'his hands dripping with blood!' There was a terri- 
ble jarring tone in his voice, which gave added effect to the denunciation. 
Every person present seemed to be thrilled with a sort of horror, rather 
towards Mr. Adams than the object of his reproaches. In speaking of 
this scene to me afterward an eminent member of Congress said that 'Mr. 
Adams's greatest delight was to be the hero of a row.' There is no doubt 
that the rude personal passages which often occurred in the House of 
Representatives derived countenance from Adams's example."— Goodrich's 
Recollections, vol. ii. p. 404. 



Ch. VIII.] CALHOUN AND THE COLONIZATION PLAN 317 

people together from different parts of the globe, and no 
human power can now separate them. The whites are a 
European race, being masters ; and the Africans are the in- 
ferior race, and slaves. I believe they can exist among us 
peaceably enough, if undisturbed, for all time ; and it is my 
opinion that the colonization society and all other schemes 
gotten up through mistaken motives of philanthropy, in 
order to bring about an alteration in the condition of the 
African, have a wrong foundation and are calculated to dis- 
turb the existing relations between the North and South. I 
believe the veiy existence of the South depends on the ex- 
isting relations being kept up, and that every scheme which 
might be introduced, having for its object an alteration in 
the condition of the negro, is pregnant with danger and ruin. 
It is a benevolent object and highly desirable that the bless- 
ings of civilization and Christianity should be introduced 
into Africa ; but this is a government of limited powers and 
has no more to do with free negroes than with slaves ; and 
if Africa is to be civilized and Christianized, I hope it will 
not be done by this government acting beyond its Consti- 
tutional powers." 

The petition was laid on the table by a vote of 24 to 12; 
and there it remained, notwithstanding Clay's exertions to 
procure further action upon it. 

But whatever might have been the interest in these varied 
topics, the most conspicuous feature of the session was the 
expunging from the Senate journal of the resolution cen- 
suring Jackson for the removal of the deposits. Although 
the circumstance was merely a spectacular episode, it was 
nevertheless invested with an historical importance that 
makes it prominent in a period that was filled with striking 
events. It marked the zenith of Jackson's personal prestig'e 



318 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

and the nadir of the Whigs' humiliation. The occasion was 
surcharged with all the accumulated political passions that 
his Presidency had engendered, and it afforded the final and 
comprehensive opportunity to review from both sides his 
public career on the eve of his retirement. The result was 
the parting glorification of him by his zealous devotees over 
the prostrate hopes of his adversaries. "With the strident 
note of triumph were mingled the execrations of conquered 
power and unconquered pride. 

Immediately after the adoption of the censure, and again 
during the debate over the President's protest, Benton gave 
formal notice of his intention to move an expunging resolu- 
tion, and pledged himself to prosecute this purpose until he 
succeeded or terminated his political life. During the next 
session he introduced such a resolution and made an elabo- 
rate speech in its behalf. As it could not then succeed, his 
efforts were designed for popular effect, and it was tabled 
without intention on his part to revive it during the session. 
But so obnoxious was the word " expunge " to the Whigs, 
and so fraught with danger in the opinion of many Demo- 
crats, that an attempt was made by mutual agreement to 
change the proposition to expunge to some other more con- 
sonant with Constitutional scruples. Accordingly the reso- 
lution was called up by one of its opponents with this object 
in view. At once Hugh L. White moved to strike out the 
words "ordered to be expunged from the journal" and in- 
sert " rescinded, reversed, repealed, and declared to be null 
and void." But as there was still some difference of opin- 
ion among Jackson's supporters as to what should be insert- 
ed, King moved to omit the proposed substitute from the 
motion. Such insistent pressure was brought to bear on 
Benton by several of his party colleagues that he was com- 



Ch.VIIL] TO EXPUNGE THE VOTE OF CENSURE 319 

pelled to acquiesce. The motion was carried, 39 to 7. 
Most of the Senators now supposed that this display of 
conciliation would be followed by filling the blank with the 
formula "White had proposed, or by some other substantial- 
ly equivalent ; and that if this Avere done expunging would 
be irretrievably relinquished. The astonishment was there- 
fore extreme when Webster rose and theatrically proclaimed 
the triumph of the Constitution over the project to expunge, 
and moved to lay the maimed resolution on the table, as- 
serting that he would not withdraw the motion for friend or 
foe. The motion precluded further amendment or debate, 
and prevailed by a party vote. 

The Democrats were indignant, and most of them, abandon- 
ing their former scruples, determined to insist on expunging. 
Benton naturally was most deeply incensed. He at once re- 
submitted the original resolution, to stand over to the next 
session, and defiantly declared that he would not yield 
again for friend or foe. And he did not. With renewed 
and redoubtable energy he persisted in his purpose. Pur- 
suant to the programme he had announced, he brought up 
the resolution at the next session and spoke with increased 
vigor. At the session following he presented it again and 
made another long harangue. Through his exertions ex- 
punging had become a test of Democratic loyalty. The 
party press, the local leaders, and the rank and file clamored 
for it, and a majority of the State legislatures elected and 
instructed Senators to execute it. One of the prevailing po- 
litical theories of the period was that Senators and Repre- 
sentatives were bound by the instructions of their State legis- 
latures. This absurdity, which substituted politics for the 
Constitutional tenure of office, and the opinions of State 
legislatures for the functions of Congress, long had the 



320 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

force of unwritten law. It was forcibly exemplified dur- 
ing the expunging agitation. When the legislature of Vir- 
ginia adopted resolutions against the removal of the depos- 
its, Rives, a supporter of the administration, felt obliged to 
resign, and Leigh took his place. But the legislature soon 
became Democratic, and instructed the Senators to vote for 
expunging. John Tyler refused to obey the mandate, and 
on his resignation Rives was returned. Leigh would not re- 
sign, and in consequence totally forfeited his political caste. 
Tyler received his reward later. 

The number of Democratic Senators steadily increased 
until they formed a sufficient phalanx to render the final 
assault as imposing as it was irresistible. The time had 
come much sooner than Benton expected; and it came op- 
portunely for the most dramatic effect — a consideration that 
he fully appreciated and adroitly utilized. Even if the reso- 
lution could have been adopted at the preceding session, he 
might well have been content to wait. The last session dur- 
ing Jackson's Presidency was the most fitting time to hum- 
ble his opponents and exalt his hero. And it so chanced 
that the cruelty of this exultation was capable of refine- 
ment. December 7, two days after the session opened, he 
gave notice of his intention to present his resolution. But 
he waited until the 20th, the third anniversary of the day 
on which Clay moved the censure. The resolution, which 
was preceded by a long explanatory and declamatory pre- 
amble, was as follows : 

" Resolved, That the said resolve be expunged from the 
journal; and, for that purpose, that the secretary of the 
Senate, at such time as the Senate may appoint, shall bring 
the manuscript journal of the session of 1833-34 into the 
Senate, and, in the presence of the Senate, draw black lines 



Ch. VIIL] BENTON URGES EXPUNGING 321 

round said resolve, and write across the face thereof, in 
strong letters, the following words : ' Expunged by order 
of the Senate, this day of , in the year of our 

Lord, 1837.'" 

January 12, he opened the debate by delivering a set speech 
on the resolution. This time the tone of his oration was 
changed from high -wrought argument and appeal to the 
dogmatic and gloating assurance he enjoyed in the prospect 
of the success he had so persistently toiled to achieve. He 
began by an elaborate display of personal and partisan ego- 
tism, which events, indeed, had to a large degree made par- 
donable. Complacently disdaining to renew the argument, 
which the popular voice had thus rendered superfluous, he 
proceeded in the full panoply of the Bentonesque style to 
pronounce a studied eulogy on Jackson and his adminis- 
tration. He was too practical to indulge in much vacuous 
rhapsody, although his ardor and impetuous feelings often 
impelled him to grotesque exaggeration ; but combined with 
this were his practised mastery of facts and a brawny sar- 
casm that was exacerbating to the morbid resentment of 
his adversaries. 

This speech was made on Monday, January 9. But four 
other speeches on the subject were delivered between that 
time and the following Monday, when the closing scenes were 
enacted. On Saturday a sort of Democratic caucus was held 
at Boulanger's, a noted restaurant, to canvass the situation 
fully. The task was not without difficulty. Benton and 
some others were for actual expurgation ; but it was evi- 
dent that some would not agree to this — the Constitutional 
objection still haunted them. Compromise and good cheer, 
however, at length surmounted the obstacles. The radical 
yielded, the reluctant were stimulated, the doubting were 

21 



322 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

convinced ; all harmonized on the hybrid plan as it stood. 
Benton confesses that " it required all the moderation, tact, 
and skill of the prime movers to induce and maintain the 
union upon details, on the success of which the fate of the 
measure depended." The conclave lasted until midnight ; 
but when it broke up the final arrangements were perfected. 
Each Senator pledged himself to vote for the resolution and 
to sit up all night if needful to press it to a vote. Benton 
took care to provide for an ample supply of viands, wine, 
and coffee, to be served in an anteroom of the Senate 
chamber, where the wearied and hungered champions of 
expunging could snatch refreshment during the austerities 
and anxieties of a protracted session. 

When the resolution was taken up at the appointed hour 
the debate proceeded. Evening set in. The chamber and 
its approaches were brilliantly lighted. Every available 
space not held by Senators in that historic room was occu- 
pied by members of the House and those who were favored 
with the envied privilege. The corridors and lobbies were 
eagerly thronged and the galleries were resplendent with 
the fashion and display that grace the boxes at grand opera 
on the opening night. The spectacle was all that the Senate 
in its greatest epoch could evoke. Such an occasion, awed 
and dignified by the presence of such a galaxy of justly dis- 
tinguished public men, has not been possible in Washington 
since the memorable period that ended with their lives. 

Chief among the various motives that brought this ex- 
pectant assemblage together was the desire to hear the 
speech of Henry Clay. From the time that Benton first 
proclaimed the expunging design, Clay had maintained a 
contemptuous silence toward it. But that he would remain 
mute at the final hour was not to be supposed. More than 



Ch. VIII.] CLAY SUSTAINS THE VOTE OF CENSURE 323 

any other man he was bound to remonstrate. No stronger 
provocation to antipathy and resentment could animate him 
than that which was boldly flaunted by Benton's resolution. 
And he of all men was best qualified to give expression 
to the sentiments and feelings of the Whigs toward Jack- 
son and this unprecedented mode of hero-worship. Others 
could argue in justification of the censure and against its 
propriety and constitutionality as well as he could — possibly 
better; but no man possessed in so great a degree that subtle 
fusion of presence, manner, voice, speech, temperament, per- 
sonality, and intellect which constitutes the highest type of 
the parliamentary orator. Thus it was rightty judged that 
the philippic he would pronounce on this aggravating oc- 
casion would remain to those who heard it one of the vivid 
memories of a lifetime. Apparently unconscious that he 
was the focus of attention and comment, he sat with grave 
countenance, yet with a gleam of suppressed rancor in the 
eye, until the appropriate moment came for him to speak. 
He then rose slowly, and, grimly surveying the hushed 
scene, proceeded in the modulated tones of his rich and 
wonderful voice with one of the most notable speeches of 
his long career. 

His exordium was plain and serious and displayed that 
fluid ease of diction and indefinable quality of style so 
rare even among writers and extraordinary in public speech. 
He then entered upon a rapid and admirable resume of 
the arguments originally advanced in support of the resolu- 
tion of censure — Jackson's unwarranted assumption, as the 
Whigs maintained, of authority over the public money and 
of the power to dismiss Executive officials; justifying the 
resolution against the criticism that it was virtually an im- 
peachment of the President without observing the Constitu- 



324 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

tional forms of procedure, and maintaining the right of the 
Senate to declare its opinion concerning any act of Execu- 
tive usurpation. This was followed by an examination of 
the asserted right to expunge. After illustrating this argu- 
ment, he turned to the prolix preamble to the resolution and 
commented with severity on the statement of facts it con- 
tained. Then came his peroration, in which his indignation 
and contempt reached the height of his oratorical expres- 
sion. For many years it was printed in books on rhetoric 
with noted passages from the speeches of Otis, Henry, Wirt, 
and Webster, and declaimed by emulous school-boys. 

Delivered as this peroration was, with all of his intensity 
of feeling and magnetic power, of which his language gives 
but slight token, the effect on his auditory was prodigious 
and thrilling. 1 Even Benton says : " lie concentrated his 
wrath and grief in an apostrophizing peroration which 
lacked nothing but verisimilitude to have been grand and 
affecting." It certainly had as much verisimilitude as the 
profuse and fulsome panegyrics of Jackson displayed ; and 
it would doubtless have defeated the resolution but for 
the extreme pressure of politics and the iron-clad pledge of 
the Democrats to force it through. The less determined 
among them writhed under his drastic scorn and sought the 
refreshment-room to revive their wincing courage. 2 



1 Buchanan began his speech by sayiug : " Mr. President, after the 
able and eloquent display of the Senator from Kentucky, who has just 
resumed his seat, after having so long enchained the attention of his au- 
dience, it might be the dictate of prudence for me to remain silent." 

2 "I envy not," said Ewing, "the triumph of him who has pressed 
forward this resolution against the opinions and the feelings and the con- 
sciences of those whom he has found means to compel to its support — a 
resolution which he has urged on with passions fierce, vindictive, furious. 
Still less do I envy the condition of those who are compelled to go on- 
ward against all those feelings and motives which should direct the actions 



Ch.VIIL] BUCHANAN'S NOTION OF EXPUNGING 325 

Clay was followed by Buchanan in a very characteristic 
speech. 1 He was generally logical and candid, laborious 
and ineloquent. lie plodded carefully over the entire 
original controversy, and then approached the difficulty 
which had taken him a long period of searching suspense to 
overcome. " I entered the Senate," said he, " in December, 
1834, fresh from the ranks of the people, without the slight- 
est feeling of hostility against any member on this floor. I 
then thought that the resolution of the Senator from Mis- 
souri was too severe in proposing to expunge." The man- 
ner in which he finally succeeded in satisfying his mind and 
overcoming his Constitutional doubt is a curious example of 
how able men can, under stress of politics, justify a palpa- 
bly unwarranted thing by refined argument and casuistry. 
"Without presenting the details of his reasoning, to quote 
a few sentences from his speech will suffice to explain his 
position, which was also that of a number of his associates. 

" My own impression," said he, " is that, as the framers 
of the Constitution have directed us to keep a journal, a 
constructive duty may be implied from this command which 
would forbid us to obliterate or destroy. ... Is any such 
proceeding as that of expunging the journal proposed by the 
resolution % . . . Will this obliterate any part of the original 
resolution ? If it does, the duty of the secretary will be 



of the legislator and the man. "Why do I see so many pale features and 
downcast eyes unless it be that repentance and remorse go hand in hand 
with the perpetration of the deed?" 

1 Previous to 1824 Clay and Buchanan were close friends, so much so 
that Clay named one of his sons James Buchanan. But subsequently they 
became estranged in consequence of Buchanan's relations with Jackson. 
On several occasions, which Forney recounts, Clay treated him with indig- 
nity. "They frequently met in society in after years, especially at the 
dinner-table. If they did not become friends, they at least ceased to be 
enemies." — Forney's Anecdotes of Public Men, p. 182. 






326 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

performed in a very bungling manner. No such, thing is 
intended. It would be easy to remove every scruple from 
every mind upon this subject by amending the resolution 
so as to direct the secretary to perform his duty in such a 
manner as not to obliterate any part of the condemnatory 
resolution. Such a direction, however, appears to me to 
be wholly unnecessary. The nature of the whole proceed- 
ing is very plain. We now adopt a resolution expressing 
our strong reprobation of the original resolution ; and for 
this purpose we use the word ' expunged ' as the strongest 
term which we can employ." 

In answer to the criticism that the word did not property 
characterize the actual proceeding, he cited a number of 
authorities as sanctioning that use of it. But not one of 
them supported his assertion. Such circumstances are not 
suited to investigations in philology. Beyond question the 
resolution, in so far as the proposed writing across the face 
of the resolution of censure would cause defacement, was a 
violation of the Constitution, trivial indeed, but a violation. 

Several other speeches were made before the debate 
closed, late at night. As the question was about to be put, 
Webster delivered an oral protest against the whole pro- 
ceeding. He succinctly stated the argument against it, and 
the argument admitted of no answer. He justly summed 
up the matter thus : " We collect ourselves to look on in si- 
lence while a scene is exhibited which, if we did not regard 
it as a ruthless violation of a sacred instrument, would ap- 
pear to us to be little elevated above the character of a con- 
temptible farce." After Webster ceased, a short but im- 
pressive silence ensued. The struggle was over. On motion 
the blanks for the date were then filled and the resolution 
was adopted, 24 to 19. Clay did not wait to see it executed. 



Ch.VIIL] CONSUMMATION OF THE EXPUNGING 327 

As soon as the vote was taken he stalked out of the chamber. 
As the secretary began to execute the mandate, such a vol- 
ley of groans and hisses broke forth from one of the galleries 
that the presiding offlcerordered it to be cleared. Benton was 
enraged at the disturbance, which, he shouted, was caused 
by " the bank ruffians." It marred the dignity with which 
he was anxious to have the scene invested. After venting 
his anger, he moved that the direction to clear the galleries 
be revoked, as it would cause the ejection of innocent spec- 
tators, and that the culprits be seized and brought to the 
bar. This was acceded to, but the raid of the sergeant-at- 
arms resulted in apprehending only one individual, who was 
brought before the Senate. This was deemed punishment 
enough for him, and he was discharged. The expunging was 
then consummated in peace. 

The jubilation of Jackson's followers was unbounded. 
Benton's lasted for life. Long after the event, when he 
wrote his Thirty Years* View, that remarkable medley of 
the useless and the invaluable, his elation was unabated. 
" The gratification," he says, " of General Jackson was 
extreme. He gave a grand dinner to the expungers (as 
they were called) and their wives ; and being too weak to 
sit at the table, he only met the compan} r , placed the ' head 
expunger ' in his chair, and withdrew to his sick-chamber. 
That expurgation ! It was the ' crowning mercy' of his civil, 
as New Orleans had been of his military, life." 

At this day, when the passions and strifes of that time 
are at most but the subjects of animated descriptions, we 
smile at what they provoked and marvel that the giants 
who then contended in the public arena should have devoted 
their powers to such barren displays. But such are the ways 
of politics. They change like the fashions ; but at root po- 



328 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

litical partisanship is ever the same, for it is grounded, in 
human nature and fostered by its most potent characteristic 
— self-interest. Under its influence the strongest characters 
and the greatest minds are governed by the same impulses 
that drive savages to combat over a feather and children to 
tear one another's hair. 

To Jackson, Van Buren's inauguration was, in his own 
phrase, " a glorious scene," not so much because of anything 
it represented for the public weal as because it signalized 
his own final and complete triumph. His paramount 
thought was that his successor was not only his personal 
choice, but he was the man whose nomination as Minister 
to England, to promote his succession, had been factiously 
rejected by a Whig Senate ; and that by a singular coinci- 
dence he was sworn into office by Taney, whose nomination 
for the bench had once been likewise rejected because of the 
part he took in the removal of the deposits. To Jackson's 
mind it was a retribution, and aroused the keenest emotion 
he could feel — the thrill of victory over hated foes. 

It had been the custom to treat his public career as the 
product of sheer will, and most of the prominent features of 
his Presidency as studied innovations in disregard of the 
Constitution, the laws, and the public welfare. The partisan 
views of his adversaries survived his time, and have gener- 
ally been advocated by historical writers, who have to a large 
degree accepted them as just. This is not surprising. Most 
of the historical writing done since that time has been the 
work of those who were educated under the sway of the 
Whiggish culture of the country, and is thus imbued with 
"Whiggish prepossessions. One source of this extraordinary 
influence will illustrate the assertion. No one occupies a 
higher place in American literature than Daniel "Webster. 



Ch. VIII.] JACKSON'S INFLUENCE ON POLITICS 329 

Kegarded in their purely literary aspect, his works undoubt- 
edly deserve their classic reputation. But this has insensibly 
carried with it the political bias that long dominated the 
educational centres, and is yet far from extinct. 1 After the 
Whig party, as such, became defunct, its intellectual, social, 
and political tendencies survived in the changed conditions, 
and impregnate most of the literature pertaining to the pe- 
riod of its existence. 

The influence that Jackson exerted on the chief political 
events immediately preceding and during his Presidency, 
and for some time afterward, was indeed powerful. But 
this was mainly the natural consequence of his position. 
And many of his conspicuous acts were virtually forced 
upon him by the opposition. Some abiding effects followed 
the precedents and practices then established. Yet this is 
not peculiar to his Presidency. Moreover, he appeared at a 
juncture that made new departures inevitable. That he and 
his advisers were sometimes rash and precipitate, and un- 
mindful of the indirect consequences beyond the immediate 
objects they had in view, is all too true ; and it is the most 
serious criticism that can be justly preferred against them. 
This is a grave error in statesmanship, even when acts are 
right in themselves and founded on true principles. The in- 
terests of a people are multifarious and interwoven. When 
a condition is pervaded with mischievous elements produced 
by wrong policy, radical measures are perilous : it should be 
treated with caution and in progressive degrees. The proc- 



1 "At this moment the spirit that prevails in many institutions of 
learning in this country is at war, open and declared war, with the spirit 
of democracy. And if at the present time [1860] there is a class of intel- 
ligent and instructed men who feel with the people and are striving for 
popular objects, the fact is not due to the colleges." — Parton's Jackson, vol. 
iii. p. 700. 



330 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

ess, however, is easier to prescribe in general than to apply 
in particular. This is eminently true of Jackson's predica- 
ment. The difficulty lay not so much in determining what 
ought to be done, abstractly viewed, as in what to do under 
all the circumstances, considering political exigencies, which 
could not be ignored, and absolute good, which politicians 
are always willing to compromise if necessary. Some palli- 
ation of Jackson's course is supplied by the novel state of 
affairs which confronted him, and of which all the conse- 
quences afford his critics an autopsical advantage. Had he 
avoided the conflicts that signalize his Presidency he would 
have been a marvel among statesmen or merely an official 
name. Such a result would have required him either to 
reconcile the "Whigs to Democratic principles or submit to 
Whig dictation; for the attitude of his adversaries pre- 
cluded any middle ground. If ever a Chief Magistrate 
can be pardoned for partisan excesses Jackson can. Parlia- 
mentary history contains no instance where the executive 
administration of a government was more sorely tried, 
baited, and assailed by a relentless opposition. The field of 
his operations was hedged about with enormous difficulties, 
for he was compassed by formidable foes intent upon pres- 
ent success, by whatever means and whatever the conse- 
quences. 

Another stricture, not so merited, arises from the share 
Jackson had in the establishment of the spoils system. This 
criticism has grown, through the modern gospel of "civil 
service reform," from resentful accusation to absolute con- 
viction, until Jackson is now generally regarded as personal- 
ly responsible for the introduction of the prescriptive system 
into our national politics. While the fact cannot be gain- 
said that it was under his administration that this policy was 



Ch. VIII.] JACKSON AND THE SPOILS SYSTEM 331 

first avowedly practised, it is an imperfect and misleading 
idea that he is to be held accountable for it. The true 
considerations in regard to this subject have already been 
presented in the course of this narrative, but it is not su- 
perfluous to restate them briefly in this general review. 
Jackson's election was the overthrow of a long political 
regime and the beginning of a radically new one. There 
had been no pressing occasion for the application of the 
spoils doctrine on a national scale; yet it was not a novelty, 
as it had been operative for years in many of the States, 
and in some of them had attained consummate develop- 
ment. "When, therefore, the opportunity and occasion came 
to apply it to federal offices the impulse was irresistible. 
There can be no reasonable doubt that under the condi- 
tions then existing Jackson did only what any President 
in his place would have been forced to do. As he did 
not originate or improve the system, but merely applied it 
under force of circumstances, he cannot be justly held re- 
sponsible for it. And it is ascribing to him an unwarranted 
influence to say that the uniform practice of it by all par- 
ties ever since is due to his example. 1 The American peo- 
ple, whatever else may be their faults, should not be indicted 
for such a blind and unquestioning pursuit of the example 
or the precepts of any individual. 

To attribute the leading characteristics of his Presidency 
to his initiative is the common and fundamental error that 



1 "Pernicious practices have been prevailing for the last fifteen years, 
which began with Jackson, which Van Bureu had little need to exercise, 
but never repudiated, and which his party always pursued, which the 
Whigs of 1840 were afraid fully and heartily to disavow, and which when 
in power they carried out as far as any before them had done, and which 
now have become the standing rule of practice in this country." — Life of 
B. H. Dana, vol. i. p. 92. 



332 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

has produced so many distorted notions concerning him. 
The premise is as false as it can be, if taken in connection 
with the fact that no man's conduct can be wholly sepa- 
rated from his personality. Had Jackson been born a few 
years earlier or later he would have died in obscurity. He 
did not possess, apart from adventitious circumstances, the 
intellect or the qualities to make an impression on any 
modern age, unless possibly in time of war. He was not 
and could not have become a statesman in the proper sense 
of the word. His type of mind is alien to statesmanship 
and is lacking in that patient, searching insight into widely 
diverse interests, public and private, present and future, and 
that comprehensive mastery and combination of these com- 
plex elements required in the genuine statesman. 

He was not a thinker or a politician. He did not have the 
education and sustained habit of mind essential to the one, 
nor the ductility of disposition and conduct necessary to the 
other. His ideas were limited and fragmentary, but they 
were direct and concentrated, and came from his mind with 
a fascinating vigor and velocity. He could not express in 
speech or writing an orderly development of any subject 
with which he had to deal. Though he was not illiterate, it 
was only in his later years that he acquired the faculty of 
expressing himself fittingly in ordinary correspondence. Un- 
doubtedly had he been educated and accustomed to the pen 
or public speech, and could he have maintained the patience, 
he would have learned to acquit himself respectably, perhaps 
powerfully ; for his manner of stating facts and ideas par- 
took of his virile temperament and often displayed the vivid 
force of Napoleon's bulletins. But he invariably depended 
on others for the composition of his official communications. 
As Parton shrewdly observes, he was always fortunate in 



Ch. VIIL] JACKSON'S IMPETUOSITY 333 

his secretaries; and thus the state papers that bear his signa- 
ture have seldom been surpassed in propriety and force of 
diction. 1 

Some of the most striking acts of his Presidency would 
scarcely have been undertaken in his audacious and uncom- 
promising way by any experienced public man, however he 
may have been advised and abetted by men of that descrip- 
tion ; for training in public affairs begets a politic circum- 
spection that seeks the point of least resistance. These acts 
took a distinctive aspect from his personality and impetuous 
energy rather than from their character and effect. His 
guiding principle was, " Desperate courage makes one a 
majority." His intensity of purpose often impelled him to 
needless exertions. He would, so to speak, use a battery 
when a platoon of musketry was sufficient. This thorough- 



1 "Not one public paper of any description signed 'Andrew Jackson ' 
ever reached the public eye exactly as Jackson wrote it. . . . Some of his 
most famous passages — those which are supposed to be peculiarly Jackso- 
nian — he never so much as suggested a word of, nor saw till they were written, 
nor, required the alteration of a single syllable before they were despatched." 
— Parton's Jackson, vol. i. p. 68. When Harvard University conferred on 
Jackson the degree of LL.D., Adams wrote : "Myself an affectionate child 
of our alma mater, I would not be present to witness her disgrace in con- 
ferring her highest literary honors upon a barbarian who could not write a 
sentence of grammar and hardly could spell his name." — Adams's Diary, 
vol. iv. p. 5. "I remember that in my youth, during his Presidency, it 
was generally believed in New England among his political opponents that 
he was an entirely illiterate man, who could not write an English sentence 
grammatically or spell correctly. This belief was too much encouraged by 
persons who knew better ; and it was not until many years afterward that 
I learned how unfounded it was. There now lie before me autograph 
letters of General Jackson written wholly with his own hand, and written 
and punctuated with entire correctness, and with no small power of expres- 
sion. The handwriting is sometimes rather better, for example, than Mr. 
"Webster's. The spelling is perfectly correct throughout. General Jackson 
wrote better English than Washington; and as to King George III., the 
General was an Addison in comparison with his Majesty." — Curtis's Buch- 
anan, vol. i. p. 129. See also Memoirs of J. G. Bennett, p. 90. 



334 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

ness had the inevitable result of increasing the ardor and 
the assaults of the enemy, and enhanced the general effect 
in the popular rnind. Such intense purpose and effort always 
have a prodigious influence over less determined minds. It 
explains the success of many men otherwise mediocre, and 
frequently produces reputation that the inherent quality of 
their achievements would not create. Great intellects are 
usually philosophical and not over-eager for material acquisi- 
tions or preferment. Narrow and combative minds are too 
often ambitious to attain objects unsuited to them. They 
confound transient position and power with genuine merit 
and enduring renown, which they never achieve, unless un- 
der exceptional circumstances, where celerity, resolution, 
and force are the prime requisites. But these conditions 
seldom occur, and hence the way-sides of history are strewn 
with bleaching bones — one of the saddest and most sugges- 
tive, yet one of the most natural spectacles wrought by 
human activity. Although Jackson was narrow-minded and 
fiercely energetic, he did not strive to force himself into a 
sphere to which he did not belong. In this respect he was a 
remarkable character, and he can only be understood by 
comparison with types of mind above and below him. He 
w T as not ambitious, nor was his nature alloyed by any selfish 
or ignoble element. His rise to the Presidency was not his 
design or achievement. His sole contribution to the result 
was that peculiarity of temperament which made him a hero 
in Indian warfare and in his solitary and fortunate battle 
of New Orleans. His exploits, thus performed, made him 
available by clever politicians as a Presidential candidate, 
and the temper of the times made him President. While 
President, as before, he was often absolute, it is true, in his 
ideas of what should be done, and utterly fearless in execut- 



Ch.VIIL] BENTON'S AID TO JACKSON 335 

ing them. Yet seldom did the initiative proceed from his 
own reflections. No President ever listened more intently 
to his advisers; and he usually followed the counsels of those 
in whom he had most confidence, albeit the manner of ac- 
complishing the objects determined upon were generally and 
distinctively Jacksonian. This is true of his struggles over 
financial questions. His combative instinct quickly pene- 
trated the heart of the bank controversy; but for the scheme 
of the contest Benton is mainly responsible. And so he was 
in a large degree for most of the more noted acts of Jack- 
son's Presidency. From this it is not to be inferred that 
Jackson was a passive instrument in the hands of others. 
Far from it. None were more ready to acknowledge his 
masterful individuality than those who stood closest to him. 
But the fact tends to qualify the common opinion that it 
was his domineering will that shaped his entire policy and 
controlled others to execute it according to his behests. 

Von Hoist formally characterizes Jackson's Presidency 
as a " reign " ; ' and the appellation has clung with the te- 
nacity usually incidental to tersely put error. The ill - bal- 
anced judgment of this distinguished writer is shown b Tr . his 
coupling this theory of Jackson's Presidency with the un- 
philosophical and pessimistic criticism that it " systemati- 
cally undermined the public conscience and diminished the 
respect of the people for the government.'' 2 The two char- 
acterizations are manifestly inconsistent, and were it not 



1 This is not original with Von Hoist. It is to be found incessantly in 
the Whig utterances of Jackson's time. — See Sargent's Clay, p. 186. 

2 No student of our political history can fail to appreciate the industry 
of Dr. Von Hoist ; but it must be recognized that his work is a polemical 
treatise, not a philosophical history. The stress he lays upon many facts 
and events is entirely out of proportion to their real importance and sig- 
nificance, a result due to his alien training and congested theories. 



336 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

that the ideas they represent are so prevalent they might be 
dismissed without further comment. To form a correct es- 
timate of a public man and his career, the actual conditions 
in which he was placed must be ascertained and considered 
— not only the political features, but the quality of the 
times and the temper and tendency of popular thought and 
feeling. The material facts are easily determined, and 
when sedulously followed they lead to sound conclusions. 
Mere sentiments and abstractions are dangerous and decep- 
tive and tend to substitute imagination and prejudice for 
investigation and truth. Jackson has long been the victim 
of the latter process. 

The management of our foreign affairs has never been 
conducted with more signal effect than under Jackson. No 
President has ever done more to compel respect for our 
national rights and American citizenship. A similar spirit 
was displayed in his prompt and forceful resistance to dis- 
union. No President has demonstrated greater practical 
loyalty to the larger aims of the Constitution and more de- 
votion to the Union and the democratic theory on which 
the^Constitution and the Union rest. The charge, inces- 
saniiy repeated, that he autocratically exercised powers in 
disregard of the Constitution, cannot be sustained. For 
everything he did in which his Constitutional warrant has 
been questioned, and where he did not act under express 
powers, the argument in his support is stronger than that 
against him. And no important instance where his action 
was professedly under statutory authority can be adduced 
that was not sanctioned by a fair and reasonable interpre- 
tation of the law. It does not answer to inveigh against, 
infractions of the " spirit " of the Constitution and the laws 
when the letter or necessary implication furnished ample 



Ch. VIII.] JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION DEMOCRATIC 337 

authority for the acts assailed. In a constitutional govern- 
ment there can be no more vicious tendency than to ignore, 
even in the name of patriotism and natural justice, the plain 
injunctions either of the organic law or of statutes validly 
enacted. Far greater harm has always, under the plea of 
propriety, followed lax construction than has ever been in- 
flicted by the strict enforcement of improper or unjust pro- 
visions. Bad laws that are executed will soon be repealed 
or modified at the demand of public sentiment ; but if 
through mere opinion they lose their stringency or effect 
they inevitably become the pretext under which incalculable 
evil is perpetrated. Underneath almost every position taken 
by the Whigs was the presumptuous but imposing fallacy 
that whatever they advocated was right, and therefore that 
their opponents were public enemies. This kind of assump- 
tion has sanctified error since the pretensions of creeds and 
dogmas first began to impress and mould the credulity of 
man. It is fortunate that occasionally a man appears who 
is strong and willing enough to recur to first principles and 
quell the sophistries that steal into the thought and destroy 
the robust instincts of the people. Jackson did not " reign." 
He administered the government under the guidance of dem- 
ocratic principles and according to the plain purport and 
purpose of the Constitution, and against the strained con- 
structions and strenuous efforts of a party undemocratic in 
its tenets and its tendencies. When he retired, every feat- 
ure of our governmental institutions was unimpaired and 
unaffected. He never manifested or entertained the slight- 
est design or inclination wilfully to transcend his lawful 
province. Under the stress of extreme provocation and ex- 
citement, he sometimes carried the war into the enemy's 
country ; but his patriotism was unchallenged. Had he at 

22 



338 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1337 

any time evinced the faintest sinister design be would have 
been repudiated and disgraced instantly and by his own 
party. 

It is absurd to say that he " undermined the public con- 
science" or bred among the people a spirit of lawlessness 
that asserted itself in riot, tumult, and disrespect for social 
and governmental institutions. No one man or set of men 
could have done or can do that in this country. It was not 
respect for the government that was affected, but acquies- 
cence in the dictation of a small number of distinguished 
Senators, who were more zealous to promote the interests of 
their party than the well-being of the country. By this it 
is not meant that those Senators were at any time actuated 
by unpatriotic motives, but that their erroneous principles, 
under the crucial test of partisan strife, forced them to acts 
that were indefensible and injurious. During this period 
there were many unfortunate exhibitions of disorder in all 
parts of the country. In Washington several members of 
Congress were assaulted for what thev had said in debate. 
But these outbreaks were not peculiar to Jackson's Presi- 
dency nor legitimately traceable to him or his policy. Sim- 
ilar acts were common before and after his Presidency. 
Many of them grew out of the antislaver}^ developments 
and were committed by men who were least affected by 
Jackson's principles. Even classic Boston presented un- 
seemly spectacles of this kind, perpetrated by its most ex- 
clusive, if not aristocratic, elements. Jackson himself nar- 
rowly escaped assassination by a lunatic whose pistols 
miraculously failed to discharge. The motive for the act 
was engendered in a disordered mind by hearing Whig Sena- 
tors denounce Jackson as an enemy to the country. But no 
reasonable mind would attribute such a baleful incident to 



CH.VIIL] THE TENDENCIES OF JACKSON'S TIME 339 

the principles and precepts of the Whigs, no more than that 
Conkling would be held guilty of the frightful but crazy 
crime of Guiteau. The application of unbiased common- 
sense is alone needed to dispel such notions. Jackson was 
not an anarchist and inculcated no anarchical principles. 
ISTor was he a demagogue. Democracy is not license, even 
though its manifestations sometimes shock the bigotry and 
complacency of that class which would be more at home 
under a monarchy. 1 The restlessness of the people that is 
incidental to some periods, accompanied with the violence 
of men who always chafe under the restraint of the crim- 
inal law, bespeaks more for our institutions than is shown 
by passive and comfortable indifference to the stealthy en- 
croachments of favoritism and class advantage. But apart 
from this it is a fallacious view of social phenomena that 
does not penetrate beyond mere external symptoms into the 
remote and complex causes that produce them. 

The characteristics of Jackson's period were not due to 
his influence, but to the direction of the popular mind, 
which made his elevation and doings possible. It was a 
time of remarkable development, expansion, and activity. 
When he appeared before the public eye a new stream of 
thought and action had started. It swept about him and 
carried him with its torrent. The economic and political 
cleavage of the North and South was becoming more and 
more apparent. The attention and interest of the people 
were directed toward politics as they had never been before. 
The democratic impulse, through natural and necessary 



1 la 1840 the " aristocratic elements" of Boston were tired of our polit- 
ical tendencies. Otis predicted that in thirty years our republican system 
would end. Allstonsaid that in " eighty years there would not be a gentle- 
man left in the country."— Pierce's Sumner, vol. iii. p. 3. 



340 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

causes too large and various to possess a single, much less a 
personal, source, was revived and increased. That Jackson 
chanced to be the personage to whom it was attracted, and 
that his personality contributed to intensify it, are not to be 
regretted. With all his defects and administrative errors 
the sum of his influence was beneficial. The sentiment of 
patriotism which he inculcated far outweighs the transient 
evils he may have caused or furthered ; and the day may 
come when the example of his Presidency will prove a bul- 
wark in the hour of the nation's need. 

It is noticeable that Clay now took less interest than had 
been his wont in minor matters that came before the Senate. 
Formerly there were few subjects of any moment that did 
not enlist his attention and comment. His suggestions upon 
matters not involved in politics were accorded great respect, 
and betoken a largeness of view and an understanding of na- 
tional and international bearings only possible to a mind long 
accustomed to public affairs. There were that increased 
weight and reposeful power in his utterances which always 
develop in the speech of public men of protracted experience 
and prestige. He was nearly sixty years of age, and almost 
half his life had been conspicuously passed in the public coun- 
cils. He no doubt felt, and rightfully, that he had performed 
his due share of routine legislative labors. The Senate no 
longer had any strong attraction for him ; yet when he was 
confronted, as he was during the session, with the necessity of 
retiring or remaining, he reversed his determination to with- 
draw and accepted a re-election. His friends and partisans 
throughout the country, who admired and supported him 
with an enduring fervor and enthusiasm never surpassed in 
the career of a statesman so long in public life, insisted that 
he continue in the body of which they and his political ad- 



Ch. VIII.] CLAY DISMAYED 341 

versaries alike regarded him. almost as an essential figure. 
But he had not conquered his repugnance. All the efforts 
of the Whigs, under his leadership, had been unavailing to 
resist the triumphant course of Jackson and the Democrats, 
and another Democratic administration was to follow. He 
was almost in a state of political despair and felt little hope 
of Whig supremacy in his time. A year before, when he 
had determined to leave the Senate at the end of his term, 
he wrote : " If I were persuaded that by remaining longer in 
the public service I could materially aid in arresting our 
downward progress, I should feel it my duty not to quit it. 
But T am not sure that my warning voice has not too often 
been heard. Perhaps that of my successor may be listened to 
with more effect." And after the adoption of the expunging 
resolution, when he had been re-elected, he still continued to 
express his earnest desire for retirement, not, however, in a 
strain of lamentation, but of acute disgust. " I shall hail," 
he wrote, " with greatest pleasure the occurrence of circum- 
stances which will admit of my resignation without dishonor 
to myself. The Senate is no longer a place for a decent 
man." And again : " I shall escape from it with the same 
pleasure that one would fly from a charnel-house." 

This resolution he eventually carried out, but not until 
five years later, after a period hardly less exciting and labori- 
ous than during Jackson's Presidency, and when at last the 
goal of his great ambition seemed within his grasp. 



CHAPTER IX 

Van Buren's Intellectual and Political Characteristics — His Policy as 
Jackson's Successor— The Crisis of 1837 — The Tactics of the Whigs- 
Webster's Speech at Niblo's — The Appeal of the New York Merchants 
to the President — The Extra Session of Congress, the President's Mes- 
sage, and the Democratic Programme — Clay Organizes the Opposition, 
and Calhoun Supports the Administration — The Opening Debate on 
the Independent Treasury — The Banks and Resumption — The Regular 
Session — Renewal of the Excitement Over the Slavery Question — Cal- 
houn's Attitude 

The Presidency is a precarious honor. With its possessor 
chance plays curious tricks. Jackson and Van Buren il- 
lustrate both extremes of this peculiar fortune. Notwith- 
standing his extraordinary political success thus far, Van 
Buren came to the Presidency under conditions that were 
extremely unpropitious and trying. "When he attained the 
coveted distinction his good fortune forsook him, and the 
very causes of his elevation operated against him. The op- 
posite of Jackson in everything but his political principles, 
he was entirely without Jackson's popular resources. It did 
not avail that he had been Jackson's close adviser and in 
full accord with his policy, if not partly responsible for it. 
He was devoid of every attribute to continue effectively 
Jackson's executive methods. He had no personal prestige 
among the masses, even of his own party. Without the 
popular influence that invested Jackson with his peculiar 
power, he was regarded merely as an official President 
rather than an important political force. To the Whigs he 



Ch. IX.] VAN BUREN AND THE PRESIDENCY 343 

was the creature of Jackson's favor, thrust into power by 
his desire and dictation. From the hour his Presidential 
prospects opened he was not only assailed and denounced, 
but sneered at and lampooned as a mere politician and deft 
manipulator. "The Little Magician" was the sobriquet 
most commonly applied to him. And, in truth, had his rise 
from the Senate to the Presidency been due to craft alone, 
it would have presented much the same appearance. His 
service in the Senate was too short to assure his position 
as a statesman and reveal his truly great talent and ability 
for public life. Every move after that was a step for and 
toward the Presidency, and as such instigated the attacks 
of the Whigs, and the jealousy of his Democratic rivals. 1 

Without opportunity to justify his pretensions or meet his 
adversaries with their own weapons, he acted on the only 
plan open to him : he took advantage of the conditions in 
which he was placed, and with the utmost adroitness and 
skill. It is unfortunate for his fame that the combination 
of circumstances that fixed his destiny precluded him from 
participating directly in the events to which he owed his ad- 
vancement, and thus from forcibly carving his own career 
in the great forum of the Senate. 



1 Such opinions, though in some degree justified by his tactical skill, 
have been immensely magnified by the asperity of political warfare prior 
to and during his term, and were subsequently still further aided by the 
spleen of his former friends because of his candidacy on the Free-soil 
ticket in 1848. — See Democratic Review, vol. iii. p. 121. "Mr. Van Buren 
had won the favor of the hero just as the jackal wins the good -will of 
the lion. He was called the 'mistletoe politician,' nourished by the sap 
of the hickory-tree." — "Wise's Seven Decades of the Union, p. 121. It is 
significant that Von Hoist's disparaging opinions of him are largely drawn 
from Mackenzie's virulent and abominable compilations. The corrective 
of the common and erroneous views concerning Van Buren is in an un- 
biased study of the leading facts and events in his career. See Shepard's 
Van Buren, p. 387. 



344 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

His entire mental and physical composition was not such 
as to create any striking impression on the popular mind. 
His most inherent intellectual qualities made him deliberate, 
circumspect, and politic. 1 The success of his early public life 
in the narrow theatre of State politics was largely the result 
of the methods these qualities had induced ; and subsequent 
circumstances so encompassed him that his sterling powers 
of mind and capacity for public affairs were scantily called 
into play. ~No doubt Jackson was drawn to him by the 
very fact that they were so completely unlike, for this is 
one of the most common sources of friendship and confi- 
dence between men. Yan Buren was unassertive, insinuat- 
ing, and amiable. 2 He seldom gave cause for personal dis- 
like. He was too conservative and complaisant for his own 
advantage. His disinclination to assert his opinions natu- 
rally led to the common notion that he had no convictions 
contrary to his political interests. His mode of thought 
and calmness of temper made him slow to take offence or 



1 Martineau's Retrospect of Western Travel, vol. i. pp. 74, 77 ; Quincy's 
Figures of the Past, p. 355. 

2 " There are many features in the character of Mr. Van Buren strongly 
resembling that of Mr. Madison — his calmness, his gentleness of manner, 
his discretion, his easy and conciliatory temper. But Madison had none 
of his obsequiousness, his sycophancy, his profound dissimulation and 
duplicity. In the last of these he much more resembles Jefferson, though 
with very little of his genius." — Adams's Diary, vol. ix. p. 369. " He will 
be a party President, but he is too much of a gentleman to be governed by 
the rabble who surrounded his predecessor and administered to his bad 
passions. As a man, a gentleman, and a friend, I have great respect for 
Mr. Yan Buren ; I hate the cause, but esteem the man." — Hone's Diary, 
vol. i. p. 246. In a speech, Clay said : " I have always found him, in his 
manners and deportment, civil, courteous, and gentlemanly ; and he dis- 
penses in the noble mansion which he now occupies, one worthy of a 
great people, a generous and liberal hospitality. An acquaintance with 
him of more than twenty years' duration has inspired me with respect 
for the man, although I regret to be compelled to say I detest the mag- 
istrate." 



Ch. IX.] VAN BUREN'S MENTAL CHARACTERISTICS 345 

harbor resentment. Had he been more positive and com- 
bative he would have received more respect and deference; 
he certainly could not have been more bitterly opposed. 
His qualities of mind and character were thus to a large 
extent obscured, and it was not until extortionate events 
compelled it that his firmness and strength of intellect were 
revealed. He was generally regarded as the most non- 
committal of politicians, and, despite his acts while Presi- 
dent and afterward, the idea still persistently attaches to 
his reputation. His face gave no especial indication of his 
intellectual powers. It displayed sanity and practicality, 
without any admixture of the eccentric or the ideal. The 
keenness of his glance qualified the appearance of benignity 
and philosophic breadth his features otherwise possessed. 
Apart from the healthy good-nature that beamed from it, 
his countenance was imperturbable. 1 It was never the in- 
dex of his thoughts; and as for emotions, he had none that 
were acute or violent. "With him self-control was not an 



1 " He looks very well, and from bis ease of maimer and imperturbable 
good temper it might be supposed that he had less to occupy his mind 
than any man in New York. His outward appearance is like the un- 
ruffled surface of the majestic river which covers rocks and whirlpools, 
but shows no marks of agitation beneath." — Hone's Diary, October 26, 
1835 ; vol. i. p. 168. These lines went the rounds of the newspapers : 

" Good Lord ! what is Van ! for though simple he looks, 
'Tis a task to unravel his looks and his crooks ; 
With his depths and his shallows, his good and his evil, 
All in all he's a riddle must puzzle the devil." 

"Mr. Van Buren was rather an exquisite in appearance. His complexion 
was a bright blond, and he dressed accordingly. On this occasion [at 
church in Rochester in 1828] he wore an elegant snuff-colored broadcloth 
coat with a velvet collar ; his cravat was orange with modest lace tips ; 
his vest was of a pearl hue ; his trousers were white duck ; his shoes 
were morocco ; his neatly fitting gloves were yellow-kid ; his long-furred 
beaver hat with broad brim was of a Quaker color." — Stanton's Random 
Recollections, p. 32. 



346 THE JACKSONIAN EP<" [1837 

effort, but an involuntary instinct. It was altogether nat- 
ural, therefore, that he should without unnecessary effort 
utilize the opportunities that arose, and sail with the current 
so long as it moved toward the haven he sought. 

The difficulties he was to encounter had long been gener- 
ating and they were close at hand ; yet his inaugural address 
displayed no apprehension, if indeed he felt any. It was 
thoroughly Democratic and optimistic, but gave little indi- 
cation of concrete purposes, save in regard to slavery. On 
this subject he declared himself explicitly, as he had done 
before election, firmly opposed to any interference, either in 
the States or in the District of Columbia. This declaration, 
however, had no novel political significance, for it coincided 
with the opinion of the great majority of the people of all 
parties except the abolitionists, who were not yet regarded as 
a political factor. But touching the extension of slavery he 
was silent. This topic had not yet attained the character of 
an actual problem. Like most inaugurals of new Presidents, 
his was essentially a salutatory, inspired by the satisfaction 
of his newly acquired honor and hopeful expectations not 
yet disturbed by opposition and adversity. His main design 
was sufficiently understood without his dwelling upon it 
— he proposed to sustain so far as he could the measures of 
his predecessor. His respect for Jackson verged to extreme 
humility, and was doubtless deemed by him politically ad- 
vantageous as well. In his letter accepting the nomination 
he said : " I consider nryself the honored instrument, selected 
by the friends of the present administration, to carry out its 
principles and policy ; and that as well from inclination as 
from duty I shall, if honored with the choice of the Ameri- 
can people, endeavor to follow generally in the footsteps of 
President Jackson ; happy if I shall be able to perfect the 



Ch. IX.] V'tN BUREN'S CABINET 347 

work which he has so gloriously begun." And he closed 
his inaugural address with a venerating tribute to Jackson 
that evinced no change of sentiment or purpose. 

This general plan was at once evidenced by the reten- 
tion of Jackson's cabinet. One place, however, was vacant 
— that of Secretary of War, through the appointment of 
Cass as Minister to France in 1836. Butler, the Attorney- 
General, performed the functions of the position until Van 
Buren came into office. Poinsett, one of the few prominent 
men of South Carolina who had opposed nullification, was 
then appointed. The old cabinet had been largely of Yan 
Buren's choice, hence no change was expected. Neverthe- 
less, it is not unlikely that at first he contemplated several 
changes. Benton's leadership of the administration forces 
in Congress had been so conspicuous and masterly that he 
was urged to accept a portfolio; but he wisely declined. 
The cabinet as then constituted was still personally ac- 
ceptable to Yan Buren, and as it could not be materially 
strengthened from those who were available after Benton 
refused to enter it, he concluded to retain it as it was. 1 But 
there was urgent need that it be as strong as he could make 
it ; for the new administration had hardly been installed 
when the storm which had been so long gathering broke 
with appalling fury. The crisis of 1837, here and elsewhere, 
was without parallel, and none more severe has occurred 
since; and no financial and commercial disturbance has 
been more fraught with economic instruction. It seldom 
happens that so many of the causes that produce mone- 
tary and business crises are operative in combination. So 
suddenly did it come and so rapidly and widely devastat- 

1 For Van Buren's frank statement of the difficulties in forming a 
good cabinet, see bis Political Parties in the United States, p. 68. 



348 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

ing were its consequences that on May 15, but a few days 
over two months after Yan Buren's inauguration, he was 
constrained to convoke an extra session of Congress to meet 
the emergency. It was called for September 4. Meantime 
the ravages were complete, and a terrible and exacting sit- 
uation confronted the public councils. 

If the relative importance of different periods of national 
history were to be judged by statistics alone, the period un- 
der review would not deserve the attention it demands. In 
1837 the population was about 15,000,000. In his last an- 
nual message to Congress, in December, 1836, Jackson es- 
timated that the total public expenditure for the ensuing 
year would not exceed $32,000,000. These two facts fur- 
nish a fair idea of the physical proportions of our national 
life and government at that time. But principles are not 
dependent on mere numbers or the size or extent of the 
objects on which they operate. Thus it is that a thorough 
and correct understanding of the history of this country is a 
liberal education in political philosophy and economy. It 
is unfortunate that this is not more generally recognized 
and applied in the higher education of American youth. 
And it is still more unfortunate that Senators and Repre- 
sentatives in Congress, not to speak of other public men, 
should exhibit, as they commonly do at the present day, 
ignorance of the history of their country. Such incapacity 
in the practice of any profession would be akin to crimi- 
nal ; but in public life, where the consequences involve the 
interests of every citizen, it excites little surprise or con- 
demnation. Comprehensive knowledge of the country's his- 
tory among our public servants would prevent the period- 
ical recurrence of time-worn fallacies and mistakes and 
lead to a general and abiding acquiescence in many princi- 



Ch. IX.] • EFFECTS OF THE CRISIS 349 

pies that should be elementary in the political creed of every 
public man. 

The premonitory signs of the impending crisis were proxi- 
mately caused by the specie circular. The blow it inflicted 
made the vast hollow of the financial system loudly resound. 
Those who were not involved in paper transactions made 
haste to guard their interests as best they could — many by 
hoarding gold or withdrawing as far as possible from dan- 
ger. The alarm quickly spread, and the reckless confidence 
upon which the monetary system of the country rested 
crumbled and fell. The most serious effects of the distri- 
bution policy followed close upon those of the specie cir- 
cular. It commonly happens that the consequences of error 
come at the most inopportune times. It was so with these. 
As we have seen, the deposit banks, to provide for the in- 
stalments to the States, were forced to contract their loans. 
In ordinary times this would have strongly affected the 
money market, but now under the circumstances the press- 
ure was prodigiously increased. Of necessity it bore hard- 
est upon those who were most instrumental in creating the 
plethoric condition that existed. Gold rose with fatal ra- 
pidity. The situation of the speculators grew from bad to 
worse. Those who were not engaged in speculation, but 
whose fortunes were inseparably linked with legitimate 
business interests, were soon affected also, and finally were 
likewise drawn into the widening vortex of failure. 1 Many 



1 "There are certainly wild speculators, blind and desperate gamblers 
here also ; but the objects of their schemes are almost always enterprises 
of public utility. The spirit of speculation in the United States has strown 
this vast country with useful works — canals, railroads, turnpikes, with 
manufactories, farms, villages, and towns ; amongst us it has been more 
rash, wild, and foolish, and much less productive in useful results. It is with 
us mere stock- jobbing." — Chevalier's Society in the United States, p. 166. 



350 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

of the strongest business houses, unable longer to withstand 
the fearful strain, collapsed like the weakest. 1 The puny 
paper-made banks succumbed to the first gust of the tem- 
pest ; and when the oldest and stanchest suspended specie 
payment, as nearly all had by the middle of May, the pros- 
tration and consternation were complete and universal. 
Some idea of the extent of these calamities may be formed 
from the estimate that nearly half a million persons became 
bankrupt; and this, of course, makes no account of the 
hardships of the vastly greater number dependent on wages 
and salaries. There is little wonder, therefore, that in some 
cases stores and warehouses were despoiled by mobs. 

One of the most forbidding features of politics is that no 
national catastrophe is so dire and universal that politicians 
will not utilize it for partisan advantage. Despite the dismal 
havoc of the crisis, the Whig leaders seemed to hail it with 
malign delight. With vociferous acclaim they paraded their 
past prophecies and pointed to the wreck and ruin on every 
side as proof of their realization. Again all the familiar 
accusations and denunciations of Jackson were revived and 
volleyed forth with inflamed zeal. That most of them had 
done service through two Presidential campaigns and had 
been signally voted down only swelled the energy with 
which they were now renewed. What could be more con- 
vincing ! Every phase of the grievous situation had been 
foretold ; for years it had been the constant text of Whig 

1 " For the last two weeks there has been a succession of enormous fail- 
ures in New Orleans and New York, extending to Philadelphia, Boston, 
and partially to other cities."— Adams's Diary, May 4, 1837, vol. ix. p. 355. 
" The number of failures is so great daily that I do not keep a record of 
them, even in ray mind." — Hone's Diary, May 2, 1837, vol. i. p. 253. 
Nevertheless, there were some light tints in the general scene of distress. 
Hone records that in September nine theatres were running in New York 
city.— Ibid., p. 266. 



Ch. IX.] THE PENNSYLVANIA BANK 351 

orators and writers. Jackson had been honored and trusted 
by the people, but he had betrayed them. The proof was 
only too manifest. His ignorance, perversity, and despotic 
will had stopped the sources of public blessings and blasted 
national prosperit} 7- . Argument was no longer needful. The 
broadcast ruin was demonstration. The masses, inclined, as 
they always are, to trace their misfortunes to something 
immediate and tangible, instead of remote and complex 
causes, absorbed the quackery thus dinned into their eager 
and willing ears. 

After the charter of the bank expired, the institution, 
with amazing effrontery and corruption, transmigrated into 
a State corporation under the hybrid name of " Pennsyl- 
vania Bank of the United States." It did not follow the 
usual and legal course of liquidation and winding-up, but 
merely transferred its assets and obligations to the new cor- 
poration and proceeded without material interruption, even 
reissuing the old notes. Moreover, as it afterward tran- 
spired, the business methods and operations now prosecuted 
were shockingly irregular and dishonest; yet Biddle and 
his allies, 1 with practised skill, at once assumed the initiative 
in a new agitation against the policy it was believed the 
new administration would pursue. In short, before Yan 
Buren was inaugurated, the campaign to elect a Whig suc- 



1 Notwithstanding the action of the bank, Biddle had lost nothing of 
his influence among the Whigs. March 28, a meeting of merchants was 
held in New York for the purpose of inducing the bank to do something 
to mitigate the distress. Hone w T rote : "I was invited to attend this 
meeting; never w T as such an assemblage of woe-begone countenances. 
Despondency had taken the place of that indomitable spirit which usual- 
ly characterizes the merchants of New York, and Nicholas Biddle, the 
insulted and proscribed of Andrew Jackson and his myrmidons, is the 
sun to which they alone can look to illumine the darkness."— Diary, vol. i. 
p. 249. 



352 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

cessor was begun. And such was the greedy zeal to take 
advantage of the coming events whose lurid shadows already- 
lay athwart the activities of the land, that the formal and 
spectacular opening of the campaign was arranged for 
March 15, but eleven days after the inauguration. It took 
place, according to the programme, at the city of New 
York, with all the accompaniments of such occasions. 
Daniel Webster was the medium. Elaborate preparations 
were made to greet him on his return after the close of the 
session. He came by steamboat from Amboy and was es- 
corted to the American Hotel by a great procession. In 
the evening he spoke at Niblo's for two hours and a half 
to a rapt audience of thousands. His speech was a power- 
ful and animated resume of the financial controversies 
which had vexed the country during Jackson's Presidency, 
and was laden with dismal forebodings of calamities to 
come unless the measures of the Whig party were adopted. 
It was not only a political harangue, but it was calculated 
to intensify the distress that was daily becoming more 
manifest and terrifying. ISTo man ever lived more capable 
of mastering the problems of national finance than Webster. 
During his early career he evinced consummate understand- 
ing and grasp of the fundamental principles of the whole 
subject, and the genius to state them with comprehensive- 
ness, lucidity, and power. But he soon receded from his 
original principles — principles that cannot die or change. 
He lacked mental integrity. He was faithless to his own 
intellect. In his eager efforts to gain the Presidency he 
sacrificed great opportunities for the public good and for 
his own lofty reputation, and sank in the mire of partisan 
advocacy. Had his force of character and will been equal 
to his mind he would not have become merely a service- 



Ch. IX.] SUGGESTIONS TO RELIEVE THE CRISIS 353 

able auxiliary to lesser men who dominated him and then re- 
warded his servilit}' - with cold indifference to his ambition. 

His reception and speech were but the first phase of the 
prearranged plan to make political capital of the distress of 
the country. April 25, it was followed b} r another imposing 
demonstration in the same city. It was styled a meeting of 
merchants, and resulted in the adoption of a set of resolu- 
tions ascribing the crisis to governmental interference with 
business and commerce, intermeddling with the currency, 
the destruction of the bank, the attempt to substitute 
metallic for credit currency, and the issuing of the specie 
circular; admonishing the administration against maintain- 
ing the policy of its predecessor ; and directing the appoint- 
ment of a committee of fifty to urge the President to with- 
draw the circular, forbear the enforcement of importers' 
bonds, and call an extra session of Congress. And, to en- 
hance the popular effect, other cities were invited to co- 
operate in this crusade. It was also provided that another 
meeting be called to receive the report of the committee. 

May 3, the committee waited on the President with for- 
mality and display, and presented a long and harrowing 
statement of the existing situation and the alleged causes 
that produced it. The relief proposed was the adoption of 
the entire Whig programme contained in the resolutions of 
the merchants' meeting, with the addition of Clay's land- 
money plan. The arraignment of Jackson was harsh and 
unstinted and in the usual style of the Whig diatribes. It 
was rashly imprudent, if not insolent, unless the committee 
acted under the delusion that Yan Buren was so terrorized 
and susceptible that he could be forced into compliance. 
If so, the character and temper of the man were radically 
misunderstood. He received the committee with his ac- 



354 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

customed urbanity, and calmly listened to the address. 
Had he been like Jackson he would have treated it as an 
insult and shown the committee the door. But this was 
not his method. When the presentation was concluded he 
suavely bowed the gentlemen out, promising a written re- 
ply the next clay. It was accordingly delivered. Although 
couched in temperate phrase, it was a firm refusal to accede 
to any of the demands, except that he promised reasonable 
indulgence to the importers. He assured the committee 
that before his election he had declared his approval of the 
measures of his predecessor; that knowing this, the people 
had elected him ; and that he proposed to adhere to them. 
The committee returned to New York professedly indig- 
nant, but probably without poignant disappointment ; for 
the outcome was doubtless supposed to be politically effica- 
cious. Biddle, also, had not neglected the opportunity. He 
had followed at the heels of the committee, and took occa- 
sion to pay his respects to the President. He was likewise 
treated with all the gracious civility that any distinguished 
caller would have received. But as his counsel was not 
solicited — as he expected it would be — he, too, felt slighted 
and aggrieved. 

May 8, another public meeting was held, at which the com- 
mittee made its barren but rhetorical report, and revealed 
the animus of the whole performance by declaring that the 
only hope left for the sorely afflicted countrj T was the arbit- 
rament of the ballot-box. New resolutions reasserting the 
declaratory substance of the previous ones were adopted. 
They virtually constituted the platform that was again to 
serve the Whig party. 1 On the 10th, the banks of New 

1 "It is a very common fact that for thirty-four years (since 1828) ^ery 
few merchants of the first class have been Democrats. The mass of large 



Ch. IX.] AN INDISCRIMINATE PAPER CURRENCY 355 

York suspended specie payment, and most of the banks of 
other cities immediately followed their example. Their ac- 
tion, however, was at once legalized by the State legislat- 
ures. The suspension of all but six of the deposit banks 
compelled the Treasury Department to retain most of the 
incoming revenues in the hands of the collectors or on 
special deposit. This situation rendered an extra session of 
Congress indispensable. There was no other recourse, and 
the President yielded to the necessity. 

The climax of the crisis had now been passed. The whirl- 
wind of ruin had spent itself, and the strain and excite- 
ment were followed by a period of commercial stagnation. 
The suspension of the banks required them to accept each 
other's paper, and in consequence gold and silver coin van- 
ished. 1 Even the government was forced to receive and 
disburse depreciated notes. Inasmuch as no paramount 
authority was exerted over paper currency, it was issued 
in every form and by any individual, firm, and corpora- 
tion that chose to do so. It was often a medium of coarse 
and insulting caricature to influence the masses against 
the administration, for they were instructed by all avail- 
able means to regard Jackson as the cause of the distress 
and Van Buren as the obstacle to its alleviation. Nor 
did the Whig leaders relax their efforts to solidify their 
political advantage. Not long after Webster delivered his 



and little irerchants have, like a flock of sheep, gathered either In the 
Federal, Whig, Clay, or Republican folds. The Democratic merchants 
could easily have been stowed in a large Eighth Avenue railroad-car." — 
Barrett's Old Merchants of New York (first series), p. 81. 

1 Gold, "Jackson money," had come into common circulation and was 
ostentatiously carried by the Democrats. The gold eagle had not been 
previously coined for thirty-five years. — Chevalier's Society in the United 
States, p. 147 ; Niles's Register, vol. lv. p. 321. 



356 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

speech in New York he made a long "Western tour and 
spoke in several places in much the same vein, endeavoring 
to the utmost to decry and cripple the administration. He 
was already working for the nomination in 1840. His ut- 
terances furnished the stock ideas that were elaborated and 
diffused by the press and the orators of the Whig party. 
The Treasury was soon in critical straits. Aside from diffi- 
culties that were arduous and perplexing without forced ag- 
gravation, it was in the serious dilemma of having to pay to 
the States, under the deposit law, what it urgently needed 
for current expenses. But in this situation, however press- 
ing the necessities, the interim between the calling of the 
special session and its convening was none too long to allow 
the excitement to abate and for the formulation of plans to 
meet the emergency. 

The personnel of the Twenty-fifth Congress was remarka- 
bly strong and brilliant. The prolonged political contests 
had directed the ambition of many able men toward public 
life; and neither the Senate nor the House has ever con- 
tained a greater number of men already distinguished and to 
attain distinction than met on the first Monday of Septem- 
ber, 1837, to deal with the unprecedented condition of the 
country and the national finances. 1 Yet it would doubtless 
have been better had there been less political inimosity, am- 
bition, and insistence ; for such conditions are extremely ad- 

1 Adams's opinion, however, of the personnel of Congres; was unfavor- 
able ; but his estimates of men were seldom complimentaiy. December 27, 
1838, he wrote : " When I look upon the composition of these two bodies, 
the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States — the 
cream of the land, the curled darlings of fifteen millions, scattered over a 
surface of two millions of square miles — the remarkable phenomenon that 
they present is the level of intellect and of morals upon which they stand , 
and this universal mediocrity is the basis upon which the liberties of the 
nation repose." — Diary, vol. x. p. 78. 



Ch. IX.] VAN BUREN'S VIEWS ON THE CRISIS 357 

verse to the rational solution of financial problems. The 
chief benefit of the political struggles about to be renewed 
in Congress were the lessons that they were to teach in the 
future. The strenuous character of the impending contest 
and the extremity of political danger in which the admin- 
istration stood were plainly indicated by the slender major- 
ity by which Polk, the administration candidate, was elect- 
ed Speaker of the House. The vote was 116 to 103. But if 
any doubt existed as to Van Buren's firmness it was dissi- 
pated by his message, which had been anxiously awaited. 1 
It is one of the ablest messages ever presented to Congress, 
evincing profound insight into the situation that existed, the 
causes that produced it, and the right policy to pursue. In 
later times it has received the general and decisive sanction 
of economists and financiers, and the constrained approval 
of writers, like Von Hoist, adversely disposed toward Van 
Buren and his administration. 

He first adverted to the immediate reasons for convoking 
Congress — the suspension of the deposit banks, which ren- 
dered nugatory the provisions of law in regard to the " de- 
posit and safe-keeping " of the public moneys ; the want of 
means to defray the expenses of the government ; the ina- 
bility of the importers to meet their bonds for duties ; and 
the difficulty of the Treasury in maintaining specie pay- 
ments. He then entered upon a clear and forcible exposition 
of the causes of the crisis. He ascribed them to " over-action 
in all departments of business — an over-action deriving, per- 
haps, its first impulses from antecedent causes, but stimulated 



1 "The President's message was brought on to this city by railroad, 
steamboats, and horsemen, and carried from hence to Boston, which place 
it reached in the incredibly short space of twenty-four hours from Wash- 
ington, a distance of five hundred miles." — Hone's Diary, vol. i. p. 268. 



358 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

to its destructive consequences by excessive issues of bank 
paper and by other facilities for the acquisition and enlarge- 
ment of credit." " The consequences of this redundancy of 
credit, and of the spirit of reckless speculation engendered by 
it," v^ere the vast foreign debt contracted here ; the invest- 
ment of many millions in unproductive Western lands, and 
the creation of a prodigious amount of debt for other real 
estate equally unproductive and at prices disproportionate 
to its actual value ; the improvident expenditures for public 
improvements ; the diversion of labor that should have been 
applied to agriculture, resulting in the necessity for large 
importations of grain ; and the growth of luxury founded 
on fancied rather than real wealth. To these he added, as 
aggravating influences, the loss of capital by the great con- 
flagration in New York city in 1836 ; the disturbing effects 
of transferring the public funds under the deposit law ; the 
measures of foreign creditors to reduce their loans, and the 
consequent withdrawal from the United States of a large 
portion of our specie. He then adverted to the situation 
abroad, always an element necessarily to be considered in 
properly investigating the financial and commercial condi- 
tion of this country. " It has since appeared," said he, " that 
evils similar to those suffered by ourselves have been ex- 
perienced in Great Britain, on the Continent, and indeed 
throughout the commercial world ; and that m other coun- 
tries as well as our own they have been uniformly preceded, 
as with us, by unprecedented expansions of the systems of 
credit." ' 

1 "Great gloom then gathered over our commerce, a panic set in in 
earnest, and bankruptcies, cessation of business, depreciation of goods and 
securities, prostration of trade, followed each other with wonderful rapid- 
ity. ... At Manchester there were 50,000 hands out of employment, and 
most of those employed were working only on half-time. In Scotland 



Ch. IX.] THE INDEPENDENT TREASURY 359 

Such was the introduction to the leading measure to which 
Van Buren committed his party — the establishment of an 
independent Treasury, " to separate the fiscal operations of 
the government from those of individuals or corporations." 
It was necessarily followed by an elaborate declaration 
against the re-establishment of a national bank in any form. 
He emphatically denounced this plan, which was the chief 
feature of the Whig policy, maintaining that it would be 
incompetent to effect any beneficial purpose and would 
" impair the rightful supremacy of the popular will, injure 
the character and diminish the influence of our political 
system, and bring once more into existence a concentrated 
money power hostile to the spirit and threatening the per- 
manency of our republican institutions." He cogently de- 
monstrated that a national bank was not needed to facili- 
tate domestic or foreign exchange, and asserted that it is 
not the proper and Constitutional province of the govern- 
ment to aid individuals in the transfer of their funds ex- 
cept through the post-office. 

He was equally averse to the use of State or local banks 
as depositories for the public moneys. They had been thus 
employed during three periods — anterior to the first na- 
tional bank, during the interval between the first and the 
second, and since 1833 — and had proved unsuccessful not- 
withstanding the precautions and safeguards provided by 



there were many failures, and in Ireland the state of trade was still worse." 
— Levi's History of British Commerce, p. 233. "The accounts from Eng- 
land are very alarming ; the panic prevails there as bad as here. Cotton 
has fallen ; the loss on shipments will be very heavy, and American cred- 
its will be withdrawn. The paper of Southern and Western merchants is 
coming back protested." " Everything in England is tending to a com- 
mercial crisis like that in which we are placed." — Hone's Diary, March 20, 
May 12, 1837, vol. i. pp. 248, 259. 



360 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

law. This forced the inquiry whether the government could 
not and should not be entirely severed from all connection 
with banks, however convenient such agencies might be in 
ordinary times. He reached the conclusion that " the collec- 
tion, safe-keeping, transfer, and disbursement of the public 
money can be well managed by the officers of the govern- 
ment." This, in brief, was the general scheme of the pro- 
posed independent Treasury, the details and difficulties of 
which he carefully considered. He incidentally discussed 
the character of the funds that should be received and dis- 
bursed by the government, and urged, as a salutary check 
upon issues of paper currency, the continuance of the pol- 
icy instituted by the specie circular, and the propriety of a 
general bankruptcy law that would include corporations 
and banks as well as individuals. He also desired that the 
remainder of the undistributed surplus, nearly $9,400,000, 
should be retained to meet government necessities instead 
of being turned over to the States. The sentiment pervad- 
ing the message was, as expressed at its close, that the real 
duty of the government " is to enact and enforce a system 
of general laws commensurate with, but not exceeding, the 
objects of its establishment, and to leave every citizen and 
every interest to reap, under its benign protection, the re- 
wards of virtue, industry, and prudence." 

As soon as the reading of the message was concluded in 
the Senate, Silas Wright, who was to be chairman of the 
Committee on Finance, and who sustained much the same 
relation to Yan Buren that Benton had to Jackson, made 
the usual motion to print. Clay immediately seconded the 
motion, but took occasion to assail the President's policy. 
" While I am up," said he, " I cannot forbear saying that 
after attentively listening to the reading of this message I 



Ch. IX.] CLAY'S OPPOSITION TO VAN BUREN 361 

feel the deepest regret that the President, entertaining such 
views and proposing such a plan for the relief of the country 
as he had presented, has deemed it his duty to call an extra 
session of Congress at this inconvenient period of the year." 
This was only a slight, yet sufficient indication of the gant- 
let through which the project of the independent Treas- 
ury was to run. Nor was it the first intimation that Clay 
had given of his intention to wage systematic warfare on 
whatever policy the administration might announce. Im- 
mediately after the election he proposed to his followers 
an organized opposition, grounded on the theory that Yan 
Buren had been designated by Jackson as his successor and 
triumphed through the machinery and patronage of the 
government. " Now I think," he wrote to a correspondent, 
"that no wisdom or benefit in the measures of the new ad- 
ministration can compensate or atone for this vice in its 
origin." 

Clay was apparently too anxious for the Presidential nom- 
ination in 1S40 to be honest with himself or regardful of 
the true interests of the country. Prompted by similar 
motives, he had denounced the opposition to the adminis- 
tration of John Quincy Adams as factious and culpable. 1 
Although this plan of campaign w r as meditated before the 
beginning of the crisis, it was not changed afterward. The 
calamitous situation of the country only encouraged the 
efforts to break down the administration and to frustrate 
every measure it proposed. And within this general move- 
ment, in wiiich all the Whig leaders were feverishly active 
and united, were the operations of the friends of the several 
candidates, who sought to avail themselves of the final re- 



1 Clay's Correspondence, p. 116. 



362 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

suits. Clay's adherents were early in the field. Soon after 
Yan Buren's inauguration a meeting was held in New York 
to promote Clay's interests. He was formally notified of 
the proceedings, and in August replied in an artfully com- 
posed letter, which was widely published. He stated that 
the agitation of the subject was premature, especially in 
view of the distracted condition of the country. Yet he 
was careful not to rebuke his partisans for their zeal or to 
advise a long postponement. He agreed that in regard to a 
candidate for the Presidency " some mode should be adopted 
of collecting the general sense of those who believe it im- 
portant to the preservation of our liberties involved, the cor- 
rection of abuses, and a thorough reform in the Executive 
administration, that there should be a change in the Chief 
Magistracy." He then revealed his ardent desire for the 
nomination, but in the temperate and diplomatic language 
peculiar to candidates in his situation. 1 

Therefore, Clay's immediate announcement of disapproval 
of the policy outlined by the message was not surprising. 
However his candidacy for the Presidential nomination was 
regarded by his rivals, he was the chief spirit of the opposi- 
tion ; his leadership was still paramount. In their hostility 
to the administration there was little discord among the 
Whigs. That any measure emanated from the administra- 
tion was sufficient reason for them to oppose it if it had 
a political bearing. Measures were soon proposed. They 
were in the form of seven bills, reported by "Wright from 



1 November 22, 1837, the Whigs of New York city held a celebration 
of their local victory. " The indications of public feeling during the day, 
which I have watched carefully, have been in my opinion decidedly in 
favor of Mr. Clay as the Whig candidate for President."— Hone's Diary, 
vol. i. p. 280. 



Ch. IX.] ADMINISTRATION FINANCIAL MEASURES 363 

the Committee on Finance, and incorporated substantially 
the recommendations of the President and the Secretary of 
the Treasury : to postpone indefinitely the fourth instal- 
ment of deposit with the States; to authorize the issue of 
Treasury notes to relieve the necessities of the government ; 
to extend the time of payment of importers' bonds ; to ad- 
just the remaining claims upon the deposit banks; to pro- 
vide for the placing of imports in the public stores and the 
payment of duties when the goods were withdrawn ; to im- 
pose additional functions upon certain public officers — -the 
independent Treasury system ; to revoke the charters of 
such banks in the District of Columbia as should not within 
a fixed time resume specie payments, and to suppress the 
issue of small notes in the District. They were also intro- 
duced in the House to expedite debate. "With the excep- 
tion of the bills in regard to the revenue bonds and to ad- 
just the claims on the deposit banks, they were at once 
attacked with all the vigor and ingenuity the opposition 
commanded. 

The bill to postpone the fourth instalment of deposit was 
rancorously assailed as a breach of faith, on the theory that 
the States had already incurred obligations on the prospect 
of receiving it. The condition of the Treasury and the 
source of the fund did not influence the absurd and dema- 
gogical efforts to defeat it. It passed both houses, however, 
and was the first of the proposed measures to become a 
law. But so many Democrats in the House were reluctant 
to yield the scheme of distribution that it was there insisted 
that the postponement be made definite — January 1, 1839 — 
and the Senate concurred. The bill also took from the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury the power of recalling the past in- 
stalments, and left it with Congress — a sufficient guarantee 



364 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

that it would not be exercised. Despite the intention to car- 
ry out the original plan, the fourth instalment was not de- 
livered. January 1, 1839, the condition of the Treasury still 
forbade it, and the instalment was at length relinquished. 
But the funds that had been "deposited" with the States 
have never been recalled. It is not probable that another 
distribution will ever be attempted. The profligacy of Con- 
gress is likely to prove an adequate solvent of any surplus 
that may threaten, even should there be a disposition to ig- 
nore the lesson of the surplus of 1S37. 

The bill to authorize the issue of Treasury notes (to the 
amount of $10,000,000) was denounced as a proposed emis- 
sion of paper currency, and ridiculed as an ignominious re- 
treat from the much-vaunted purpose to establish an entire 
ly metallic monetary system. In truth, the proposition was 
distasteful to many friends of the administration, notably 
Benton. Their support was gained only by the urgency of 
the situation and by removing the notes as far as practicable 
from the function of currency. They were to be issued in 
denominations of not less than $50, interest bearing, payable 
one year from their date, and transferable only by endorse- 
ment. Though receivable for public dues, they were not legal 
tender and not reissuable. With every precaution thus taken 
to prevent the issue from assuming the character of cur- 
rency, it did not merit the animadversion it received. Under 
the circumstances, it was probably the best method of pro- 
viding the means indispensable to the Treasury, as it was 
more expeditious and advantageous than a direct loan would 
have been. It encountered more opposition in the House 
than in the Senate, where Clay grotesquely assailed it as at- 
tempting to create a government bank of issue in disguise. 
It was the second bill of the session to become a law. "With- 



Cii. IX.] CALHOUN SUPPORTS VAN BUREN 365 

in the next five years this mode of procuring means was sev- 
eral times resorted to without much question. 

The main struggle of the session was. of course, waged 
over the proposed independent Treasury — the "divorce 
bill," as it was styled. It involved all the principal ele- 
ments of the great controversy between the two parties. As 
originally proposed, it provided that the revenues should be 
disbursed by the proper government officials at the Treas- 
ury and the Sub-Treasuries to be established at the chief 
commercial centres. In this form the measure was radical 
and far-reaching, as it would entirely terminate the use of 
banks for any purpose by the government ; but the possi- 
bilities of the system were not fully disclosed until Calhoun 
offered an amendment providing that by gradual degrees, 
until January 1, 1841, the revenues of the government from 
all sources should be paid only in gold and silver or paper is- 
sued under the authority of the United States and expressly 
permitted by law to be received. 

Calhoun had severed his late alliance with the "Whigs and 
engaged with his usual vigor in support of the financial 
measures of the administration. And his support was so 
able and important that he perforce shared the Democrat- 
ic leadership with "Wright and Benton. His speech on the 
specie amendment covered with clearness and power the 
whole subject of the proposed financial policy and the causes 
and conditions that prompted it. He necessarily found it 
awkward to reconcile the views he expressed with some 
phases of his opposition to Jackson's measures ; yet he was 
hampered by no radical inconsistency so far as his purely 
financial opinions were concerned. His new alliance was 
not unexpected. For some time, in fact, Clay and other 
prominent "Whigs had chafed under the necessity and cir- 



366 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

cumstances that Induced co-operation with the nullifiers, 1 
and they were not much averse to the change of situation 
that dissolved it. They expected soon to need no aid from 
without the party to execute their designs. Calhoun's ex- 
planation of his attitude — for his peculiar political position 
did not require him to furnish party justification — was that 
a new political and financial era had arrived and that he 
was free to act de novo. " I move off," said he, " under the 
States - rights banner, and go in the direction in which I 
have been so long moving." 

The debate was long and earnest, most of the "Whig Sena- 
tors participating and vying with one another in ingenuity 
to adduce arguments against the Democratic policy. Most 
of the arguments, however, are so blended with political 
and partisan considerations as to render them of little ser- 
vice to the science of finance. The principal reasons urged 
against an independent Treasury were that it would place 
too much power in the hands of the Executive, by increas- 
ing the patronage and by affording opportunity for favor- 
itism in one way and another to political friends ; that it 
was calculated to impair the entire banking system of the 
country and abnormally contract the currency ; that it 
would necessitate the exclusive use of coin by the govern- 
ment and paper by the people ; that the public funds would 
be insecure ; and that the scheme was opposed to the prin- 
ciples of our government and would be a return to anti- 
quated methods. 

Webster was looked to as the chief exponent of the 
strictly financial views of his party ; but while his utter- 
ances contain much that is true and valuable, he was too 



1 Clay wrote in April, 183-4 : " The nullifiers are doing us no good here." 
— Clay's Correspondence, p. 382. 



Ch.IX.] CLAY ON THE INDEPENDENT TREASURY 367 

much imbued with partisanship to render his speeches in- 
vulnerable. Like all his Whig colleagues, he suggested no 
remedy in place of the one he decried, except the institution 
of another national bank. 

Clay spoke toward the close of the debate. As might be 
expected, his speech was mainly political. A large part of 
it was but a repetition in new form of his previous speeches 
attributing the financial condition of the country entirely 
to Jackson's measures. He, therefore, took issue with the 
President's statement with regard to the causes of the crisis 
as set forth in his message. He imputed to the administra- 
tion the design to subvert the State banks and place them 
at the mercy of the federal government, and argued strenu- 
ously in favor of a convertible paper system through the 
medium of the banks. He then repeated the current ob- 
jections to the measure : insecurity of the public funds 
through danger of peculation, " the liability to favorit- 
ism," " the fearful increase of Executive patronage," " the 
perilous union of the purse and the sword" ; and that the 
system was " destined to become, if it was not designed to 
be, a vast and ramified connection of government banks, 
of which the principal will be at "Washington and every 
Sub -Treasury will be a branch," on the theory that the 
drafts of the Secretary on the Sub-Treasuries would oper- 
ate as a general currency in the place of bank-notes. Af- 
ter alleging inconsistency between the views of the late 
and the existing administrations on the subject of regu- 
lating the exchanges, he passed to a discussion of the Whig 
panacea for the ills of the country — a national bank. 
" I declare," said he, " that, after the most deliberate and 
anxious consideration of which I am capable, I can con- 
ceive of no adequate remedy which does not comprehend 



3G8 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

a national bank as an essential part." He challenged the 
statement in the message that the popular will had twice 
been " solemnly and unequivocally expressed " against it, 
and argued that Jackson's re-election after his veto of the 
bill to recharter the bank did not signify that the people 
were adverse to any bank, but to the one proposed, be- 
cause Jackson himself had declared in his veto message 
that if he had been consulted he could have furnished a 
model free from objection. "I am perfectly persuaded," 
said Clay, " that thousands and tens of thousands sustain- 
ed his re-election under the full expectation that a nation- 
al bank would be established during his second term." 
If he really believed this he deceived himself. Political 
issues have seldom been more clearly defined than that in 
the campaign of 1832 over rechartering the bank. And 
Yan Buren's election after the struggles in relation to the 
bank during Jackson's last term made the result absolutely 
unequivocal. His argument in favor of a bank presented 
nothing new. " We are all," said he" — people, States, 
Union, banks — bound up and interwoven together, united 
in fortune and destiny, and all, all entitled to the protect- 
ing care of a parental government. ... A government, an 
official corps — the servants of the people — glittering in 
gold, and the people themselves — their masters — buried 
in ruin and surrounded by rags!" The principal idea of 
the speech was that little public good was to be expected 
until there were a Whig administration and a Whig Con- 
gress. 

October 3, Calhoun's amendment was adopted by a ma- 
jority of one, and on the next day the bill as amended was 
passed by the Senate, 26 to 20. But in the House the ad- 
ministration was not strong enough to carry it. On the 



Ch.IX.] NO BANKRUPTCY LAW FOR BANKS 369 

14th, two clays before the adjournment, it was laid on the 
table by a vote of 119 to 107. Nevertheless, the delay of 
the measure was of little practical consequence, as the sys- 
tem it proposed was already by force of circumstances in 
practical operation. Moreover, the momentum was started 
that was finally to carry the measure through. 

Notwithstanding the opposition to the independent Treas- 
ury system, both houses were strongly adverse to a national 
bank. Many petitions were of course presented in favor of 
a bank. In the Senate they were referred to the Finance 
Committee, which reported a resolution stating " that the 
pra} r er of the petitioners ought not to be granted." When it 
was called up, Clay said that he could see no utility in a neg- 
ative resolution ; that he could recollect but one example — 
Kandolph's resolution that it was inexpedient to declare war 
against Great Britain. He preferred that the resolution be 
laid on the table, but if that course was not taken he moved 
as a substitute "that it will be expedient to establish a 
United States bank whenever it shall be manifest that a 
clear majority of the people of the United States are in 
favor of such an institution." This was rejected and the 
original resolution adopted, 31 to 14. A few days later a 
resolution declaring "that it is inexpedient to charter a 
national bank" was adopted by the House, 123 to 91. 

The proposition to enact a bankruptcy law for banks met 
with scant encouragement. Benton was almost alone in his 
advocacy of it. Despite his indefatigable support of the 
administration, his personal relations with Van Buren were 
not cordial. Shortly after the inauguration he warned the 
President of the impending crisis, and strongly urged pre- 
cautions concerning the government funds ; and his pride 
met a rude rebuff, which he never fully pardoned, when Yan 

24 



370 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

Buren blandly told him, " Your friends think you a little 
exalted in the head on that subject." 

Several bills of minor importance became laws ; but the 
only ones to succeed connected with the leading policy of 
the administration were those postponing the fourth instal- 
ment of deposit with the States, authorizing the issue of 
Treasury notes, and to adjust the claims against the deposit 
banks. But they relieved the most urgent necessities of the 
government and left the administration in a position to con- 
tinue the struggle for the regular establishment of the in- 
dependent Treasury. 

The brief interval between the adjournment of the special 
and the beginning of the regular session, December 4, de- 
veloped no marked change in the general condition of the 
country. The excitement and acute symptoms of the 
crisis had subsided, but the ravages were too serious to 
be repaired save by the gradual return of confidence and 
the slow process of normal recuperation. Yet some im- 
provement was visible. The business houses that had es- 
caped the common devastation were the nucleus of that 
potential energy which always revives and supports the 
activities of the people, however severe the revulsion that 
overwhelms them. This never-failing phenomenon is the 
most convincing demonstration that the natural laws of 
trade and finance, when unimpeded, work more sound and 
enduring good than legislative stimulants can produce. One 
evidence of improvement was the decrease in the premium 
on gold, which had fallen from eight and seven-eighths to 
five per cent. Besides this was the movement on the part 
of the sound banks to resume specie payments. The chief 
obstacle was the Pennsylvania Bank of the United States, 
which still wielded great influence. Its precarious condition 



Ch. IX.] THE BANKS AND SPECIE PAYMENT 371 

was known only to its officers, who took all available means 
to delay the final catastrophe. As resumption would be the 
beginning of the end, it was industriously but diplomatically 
opposed. The bank pleaded its own cause in disguise through 
the specious pretext of a paternal desire to aid the weak- 
er banks, to which further time was an absolute necessity. 
The situation of the New York banks was wholly the re- 
verse. The State law legalizing their suspension required 
them to resume within a year, which would expire May 15, 
1838. To them, therefore, resumption was vital. More- 
over, their condition as well as their relations to the com- 
merce and finance of the country were such as to impel 
them to pursue a sound banking policy. Accordingly, be- 
fore the extra session of Congress, they proposed a con- 
vention of representatives of all the banks of the country, 
to agree upon a time for general resumption. But at the 
instance of the Pennsylvania Bank it was delayed until 
Congress rose, to await legislative action. 

Shortly after the adjournment the New York banks again 
took the initiative and issued invitations for a convention to 
be held in New York city, November 27. It met on that 
day, but the object was again frustrated. Resolutions to 
resume specie payment on March 1 and July 1, 1838, were 
defeated. The convention then adjourned to April 15. At 
that time there was still a strong opposition to immediate 
resumption, and the result was to fix January 1, 1839, as the 
date for resumption, although it was agreed that banks so 
desiring could resume sooner. When the convention end- 
ed, the premium on gold in New York, which had been 
steadily declining, was less than one per cent. This was 
due to the position of the New York banks, which were 
now compelled to act alone to save their charters. They 



372 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1837 

all resumed specie payment on May 10, and their example 
was speedily followed by many banks in other States. 

The results of the elections in the fall of 1837 caused the 
"Whigs much rejoicing. The popular tide had set strongly 
in their favor — even in New York, notwithstanding the re- 
conciliation of the " Locofoco " ' faction with the main body 
of the Democratic party. This faction had for some time 
been in revolt, but it was now in accord with the policy of 
the administration. While Van Buren was sensitive to 
these manifestations of popular sentiment, he was not in- 
fluenced by them. He expressly recognized them in his 
annual message, but professed that the decisive factors in 
the various elections were local rather than national, 2 and 
strongly renewed his recommendation of the independent 
Treasury plan. In this connection he called attention, in 
severe terms and very justly, to the fact that over $27,000,- 
000 of the notes of the former Bank of the United States 
were still uncancelled and over $10,500,000 still in circula- 
tion, through the illegal and adventurous operations of its 



1 This name was applied in the fall of 1835. In a contest between the 
two factions of Tammany Hall, the regulars were unexpectedly outnum- 
bered and turned off the gas. Apprehending this, the other faction had 
brought candles and locofoco matches and at once relighted the hall. 
" The latter, in 1836, organized the Equal Rights party, and declared it an 
imperative duty to the people to ' recur to first principles.' Their 'decla- 
ration of rights' might well a few years later have been drawn by a stu- 
dent of Spencer's Social Statics." — Shepard's Van Buren, p. 293. 

5 This reference to the elections provoked Clay's criticism. "I am 
shocked," said he, " at the President having undertaken in his message to 
comment on the result of local elections. It is unprecedented, and, I must 
be allowed to say, undignified. It is the first example in which the Presi- 
dent spoke of elections, not of the general government, but of State gov- 
ernments. ... A State Chief Magistrate may in his message refer to the 
result of the elections in his own State ; but what decent pretext has a 
President of the United States to take notice of the result of State elections 
and assign causes, dishonorable causes, for them ?" 



Ch. IX.] THE ABOLITIONISTS A POLITICAL FACTOR 373 

successor. lie also pronounced in favor of the policy of 
disposing of the public lands so long advocated by Benton 
— low prices, graduated according to their relative value, 
and liberal pre-emption privileges, with the leading object 
of inducing settlement and cultivation. The only other 
topics of particular interest in the message were that refer- 
ring to the controversy of long standing with Great Britain 
over the northeastern boundary, and that with Mexico over 
the claims which had during the preceding administration 
been pushed so vigorously. Neither had been much ad- 
vanced, and both afforded opportunity for patriotic display. 
The proceedings of the session, which lasted until Julv 
7, were unusually varied and of lively public interest, al- 
though comparatively little important legislation reached 
the statute-books. The first topic to engross attention was 
slavery. Notwithstanding the financial and political ques- 
tions apparently uppermost, the antislavery agitation was 
again obtruded with enhanced energy. From the startling- 
increase in the number of abolition petitions and their sign- 
ers it was evident that the cause was progressing and aug- 
menting its forces. Most of the petitions were, as former- 
ly, for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, 
and frequently described slavery in terms so severe and 
ill-restrained that the Southern Senators and Representa- 
tives, as well as the Southern people and press, regarded 
them more acutely than ever before as flagrant insults, and 
were thus in their dread and rage driven to a more uncom- 
promising and vindictive stand than they had previously 
assumed. The most portentous aspect of the agitation, and 
that which most influenced the South, was the fact that 
the abolitionists were becoming a political force. The 
legislature of Connecticut had repealed the " black law," 



374 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

under which Prudence Crandall's school had been sup- 
pressed. The legislature of Massachusetts had, by a large 
majority, adopted resolutions censuring Congress for its 
treatment of abolition petitions, and asserting the Constitu- 
tional power of Congress to abolish slavery in the District. 
The legislature of Vermont had not only adopted similar 
resolutions, but went so far as to protest against the an- 
nexation of Texas because it would be a slave State. And 
this was the theme of many petitions. 

The feelings of the Southern members now passed the 
bounds of mere excitement, and the most ominous scenes 
which had thus far been enacted took place in the House. 
The swelling multitude of petitions and petitioners was 
alone sufficient to create profound alarm, and but slight 
provocation was needed to disclose the determination of the 
Southern members to take radical action. December 20, 
Slade, of Vermont, who had previously presented some pe- 
titions praying for the abolition of slavery in the District, 
and moved to refer them to a select committee with instruc- 
tions to report a bill for that purpose, began a speech in sup- 
port of his motion. The speech, so far as he proceeded, was 
an attack on slavery in general, after the type common to 
abolitionist agitators. As soon as its purport was manifest 
it met with obstreperous objections ; and after much wran- 
gling and confusion the House adjourned. During the tumult 
the members from several of the Southern States had been 
requested to withdraw; and when the result of the motion 
to adjourn was announced, Campbell, of South Carolina, 
mounted a chair and with stentorian voice gave notice that 
the gentlemen who represented the slave-holding States were 
invited to meet in the District committee-room. The con- 
clave was quickly organized. Many of those present were 



Ch. IX.] RHETT ADVOCATES SECESSION 375 

ready for extreme measures. Rhett, of South Carolina, pro- 
posed resolutions declaring that the " Constitution having 
failed to protect the South in the peaceable possession of 
their rights and peculiar institutions, it is expedient that the 
Union be dissolved," and to provide for the appointment of 
a committee of two members from each State to report upon 
the best means of peaceably dissolving it. 

Though the proposition met with some favor, the major- 
ity of those who attended the conference were convinced 
that it was unnecessar}^ to press it at that juncture, and de- 
cided instead to again employ the " gag." As this was gen- 
erally acceptable to the Northern politicians, there was no 
serious difficulty the next day in procuring its adoption in 
the most stringent form, despite vigorous opposition under 
the lead of Adams. To do it required the suspension of 
the rules by a two-thirds vote, which was easily obtained. 
Debate was quickly silenced by carrying the previous ques- 
tion, and the "gag" resolution was adopted. Some of the 
Northern members, however, who voted to suspend the rules 
voted against the resolution in order to satisfy their con- 
stituents ; but in voting to suspend the rules they did what 
was most needful to aid the Southern policy. Thus, in the 
House, further discussion of slavery was prevented for the 
session. Rhett's proposition attracted wide attention. "While 
the plan it contained was by no means novel, it was the first 
time it had been formally presented, and the " memorable 
secession" from the House became a stock phrase, and se- 
cession of the South a standing threat. It had the effect 
which its author subsequently explained was his purpose to 
produce — to give formal notice of the attitude of the South 
in the event of any interference with slavery. 

That scenes similar to those in the House, in consequence 



376 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

of the abolition petitions, did not take place in the Senate 
was mainly due to the character of this body, for the same 
provocation existed, and the disposition of the Southern 
Senators was alike to that of the Southern Representatives. 
A few days before the adoption of the " gag" by the House, 
Clay, perceiving the increase in the number of petitions, re- 
marked : " It is manifest that the subject of slavery in the 
District of Columbia is extending itself in the public mind, 
and daily engaging more and more of the public attention. 
I have no hesitation in saying the Congress ought not to do 
what is asked by the petitioners without the consent of the 
people of the District of Columbia. I am desirous of inquir- 
ing whether the feeling of abolition in the abstract is not ex- 
tending itself, or whether it is not becoming mixed up with 
other matters — such, for instance, as the belief that the 
sacred right of petition has been assailed. It becomes the 
duty of the Senate to inquire into this business and under- 
stand the subject well." 

Discussion at once ensued, the Southern Senators taking 
ground against receiving the petitions. Calhoun was espe- 
cially pronounced. He was "for no conciliatory course, no 
temporizing," and appealed to the Southern members to 
stand by him. "There is but one question," said he, "that 
will ever destroy this Union, and that is involved in this 
principle. Yes, this is potent enough for it, and must be 
early arrested if the Union is to be preserved." Uninflu- 
enced by the outcry of Calhoun, Clay plainly expressed his 
opinion as to what should be done — that the petitions should 
be received, referred, acted upon, and argued down. 

The motion to receive the petitions was laid on the table. 
But the subject did not remain there. The next da}^ Swift, 
of Yermont, presented the memorial and resolutions of the 



Ch. IX.] CALHOUN'S RESOLUTIONS 377 

legislature of that State in relation to slavery in the District 
and the annexation of Texas. King hotly pronounced them 
"an infamous libel and insult on the South." Calhoun was 
nearly benumbed with astonishment, as this was the first 
he had heard of them. He admitted that he was not pre- 
pared to discuss them, and desired that they be received 
and laid on the table, that he might " prepare his mind for 
action on the subject, determined that it should not rest un- 
til it had received the final action of the Senate." At Clay's 
request the documents were withdrawn with notice that 
they would be presented later. On the two following days 
occurred the proceedings in the House over Slade's motion 
and the adoption of the "gag." Thus Calhoun had ample 
incentive to exert himself to the utmost in defence of his 
political doctrines. And he did so. On the 27th he pre- 
sented a series of six resolutions asserting his principles. 

Of all men of that day whose utterances survive, none 
understood so clearly the real character and import of the 
issue over slavery. He was doubtless sincere in the belief 
he steadfastly expressed that slavery was right and should 
be preserved for the interest of both the master and the 
slave. This, we may assume, was the fundamental premise 
upon which the entire superstructure of his defence was 
reared. Yet underlying this was the imperious fact that sla- 
very had become a controlling element in the social fabric 
of the South, the chief basis of its activity and wealth, and 
hence the dictator of its public and political sentiment. 
Even the ministers of the gospel were hardly less zealous 
than the politicians in upholding the institution, for which 
they found abundant sanction in Holy Writ. Under such 
circumstances the moral aspect of slavery, as viewed where 
slavery did not exist, could not appeal to the Southern 



378 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

people ; and the fierce criticism and agitation in the North 
only rendered the South more obdurate to reason and more 
energetic to fortify and extend the institution. 

Perhaps the most singular phase of the whole matter is 
that the South was so blind to its true material interests. In 
this same year, in a commercial convention of the Southern 
States, the relative conditions of the North and South were 
vividly contrasted. The steadily increasing superiority of 
the North over the South in population and wealth, and in- 
dustrial and commercial interests, was complainingly recog- 
nized and admitted. The cause was largely ascribed to the 
tariff, internal improvements, the two national banks, the 
paper system, pensions, and governmental extravagance 
and abuses, which gave the North such an advantage as 
to make the South its tributary ; and, as a partial remedy, 
direct trade between Southern and foreign ports was pro- 
posed. This explanation contained some truth, but it was 
not sufficient to account for the disparity in the condi- 
tions of the two sections. The main cause was in the 
fatal disadvantage of the system of slave labor. and its at- 
tendant evils as compared with that of free labor. As the 
subject is studied at this distance of time, when everv mo- 
tive for ignoring or obscuring the truth is removed, it seems 
surprising that the economic superiority of free labor was 
not perceived and utilized. Had this phase of the question 
been properly and dispassionately considered, the course of 
events would doubtless have been changed. But the ob- 
stacles were twofold — the slaves were negroes, whom the 
most enlightened people of the South were in any case 
afraid to liberate; and the associations and habits of life 
were such as to exclude the contemplation of such an alter- 
native. The philosopher may calmly reason now on the 



Ch. IX.] CALHOUN'S POLITICAL INCONSISTENCY 379 

subject of slavery extinct ; but then the planter had to deal 
with property that constituted a large part of his posses- 
sions and with conditions created generations before him. 

That Calhoun was inconsistent with his former views 
whenever they conflicted with the development of his new 
theories in defence of slavery did not deter him. Any opin- 
ions he had ever expressed were resolutely abandoned if 
contrary to the logical exigencies of his position. A strik- 
ing instance of his change of mind was in relation to the 
Missouri Compromise. While in Monroe's cabinet, when 
the bill was passed and signed, he favored it ; but he now 
emphatically disapproved it as being a " dangerous meas- 
ure," which had "done much to rouse into action the present 
spirit." He asserted that " had it been met with uncompro- 
mising opposition, such as a then distinguished and sagacious 
member from Virginia (Mr. Randolph), now no more, op- 
posed to it, abolition might have been crushed forever in its 
birth." He had no faith in palliatives to allay the agita- 
tion. He saw that there could be no pacification of the 
agitators, and that the only mode of meeting their efforts 
was in the rigid denial of the right to assail slavery in Con- 
gress or by political action. He sought to interpose legal 
propositions as a barrier against the rising tide of moral 
sentiment against slavery. He admitted his doubts as to the 
efficiency of his plan, but presented it as the most promising 
one. He desired that the Union be preserved, but not unless 
slavery could be secure within it ; yet he foresaw with pro- 
phetic certainty the inevitable danger with which the slavery 
question was fraught. Most of the Senators, whatever their 
opinions upon the question, deprecated his aggressive policy. 
They preferred to avoid discussion by merely receiving the 
petitions and memorials and laying them on the table with- 



380 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

out debate. Northern Senators, anxious to give the South all 
reasonable support, felt, out of regard for their own political 
safety at home, that Calhoun's extreme demands were more 
onerous than he ought to impose. But he would not swerve 
from his purpose. The stifling of discussion was not what 
his haughty spirit desired. He invoked the Constitution as 
the sufficient guarantee of security to slavery, and insisted 
that the time had come to make a test of the Senate's dis- 
position toward the South. His resolutions were the means. 



CHAPTER X 

The Debate on Calhoun's Slavery Resolutions and Clay's Substitutes — The 
Independent Treasury again Defeated — Minor Financial Legislation — 
The Doctrine of Instructions — The Subsidiary Coiu — Clay's Set Speech 
on the Slavery Question and Calhoun's Comments — Clay's Northern 
Tour — The Obstacles to His Nomination— The Whig National Conven- 
tion — Harrison and Tyler Nominated — Clay's Disgust and Acquiescence 

Calhoun's resolutions were designed to embrace the en- 
tire legal status of slavery and to furnish a complete " plat- 
form" of its Constitutional rights. The essential prop- 
ositions of the first three were that in the adoption of the 
Constitution the States acted as free, independent, and 
sovereign, and " entered the Union with the view to its in- 
creased security and against all dangers, domestic as well as 
foreign, and the more perfect enjoyment of its advantages, 
natural, political, and social"; that they "retained, severally, 
the exclusive and sole right over their own domestic institu- 
tions and police, and are alone responsible for them, and that 
any intermeddling of any one or more States, or a combina- 
tion of their citizens, with the domestic institutions and police 
of the others, on any ground or under any pretext whatever, 
political, moral, or religious, with the view to their altera- 
tion or subversion, is an assumption of superiority not war- 
ranted by the Constitution, insulting to the States interfered 
with, tending to endanger their domestic peace and tran- 
quillity, subversive of the objects for which the Constitution 
was formed, and by necessary consequence tending to weak- 



382 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

en and destroy the Union itself "; that the government was 
instituted by " the several States " as a common agent to 
carry into effect the powers they had delegated by the Con- 
stitution ; " and that in fulfilment of this high and sacred 
trust this government is bound so to exercise its powers as 
to give, as far as may be practicable, increased stability and 
security to the domestic institutions of the States that com- 
pose the Union ; and that it is the solemn duty of the gov- 
ernment to resist all attempts by one portion of the Union 
to use it as an instrument to attack the domestic institutions 
of another, or to weaken or destroy such institutions instead 
of strengthening and upholding them, as it is in duty bound 
to do." 

These three resolutions formed the groundwork of gen- 
eral principles applied in the remaining resolutions. They 
contained the ultra doctrine of States-rights, and Calhoun's 
familiar theory of the formation and character of the 
Union. Yet they encountered little opposition for that 
reason. The first was adopted, 31 to 13. The second re- 
ceived some slight verbal amendment, and the words " in- 
sulting to the States interfered with" were stricken out. 
An effort was also made to strike out the words " moral and 
religious," but it was unsuccessful, for Calhoun earnestly 
maintained that they were vital. "Webster criticised the 
resolution as being tvX) broad and too vague and " at vari- 
ance with the correct interpretation of the Constitution," 
although he admitted the necessity of some definite action 
on the subject by Congress. " If the resolutions," said he, 
" can be modified to meet the Constitutional requisitions, 
asserting that the Constitution permits slavery and protects 
the institution, I will then vote for them. An assertion here 
that the Constitution cannot meddle with domestic institu- 



Ch.X.] CALHOUN'S RESOLUTIONS CONSIDERED 383 

tions, if supported, utterly deprives it of power or effect." 
The second resolution was adopted, 31 to 9. 

The third evoked more discussion. The objection was 
urged that it was not the duty of the government to in- 
crease the stability and security of the domestic institutions 
of the States or to strengthen and uphold them. The argu- 
ment in behalf of this objection was so cogent and so gener- 
ally entertained that Calhoun acquiesced, and the clauses 
were eliminated. A proviso was then proposed asserting 
that the resolutions should not be construed as adverse to 
" these fundamental principles of this government : That all 
men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Cre- 
ator with certain inalienable rights ; that among these are 
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That the freedom 
of speech and of the press and the right of the people peace- 
fully to assemble and petition the government for redress 
of grievances shall never be abridged. That error of human 
opinion may be tolerated while reason is left free to combat 
it. That the Union must be preserved." Calhoun vigorously 
protested, and at length a substitute was adopted declaring 
that " nothing in the foregoing resolutions is intended to 
recognize the right of Congress to impair in any manner 
the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of peti- 
tion as secured by the Constitution to the citizens of the 
several States, within their States respectively." Presum- 
ably Calhoun regarded it as harmless because of the last 
phrase, which fell short of the express provision of the Con- 
stitution. An addition was then moved that " the right of 
the people to speak, write, print, and publish anything what- 
ever is indisputable ; and that they are amenable only to the 
State in which they may be at the time." 

By this time the spirit of opposition began to manifest 



384 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

itself more strongly ; and many of the Senators who were 
willing to vote for the resolutions expressed their disap- 
proval of the whole proceeding, as likely to produce more 
harm than good. To these criticisms Calhoun replied with 
intense earnestness, asserting that the Senate did " not suffi- 
ciently comprehend the extent and magnitude of the existing 
dangers." He pointed them out with truth that grated on 
the political sensibilities of the Senators. Disunion was the 
spectre that he kept constantly before their eyes. His in- 
dependent position left him free to bend his energies to the 
defence of Southern interests, without regard to ulterior 
political considerations. Clay wrote that Calhoun's aim was 
" to advance the political interest of the mover and to affect 
mine"; 1 but there is no good ground to suppose that in this 
course Calhoun had any political purpose apart from the 
cause he represented. His entire conduct was the reverse 
of politic, and it may be safely assumed that he was gov- 
erned by the belief that it was necessary to take positive 
action in support of slavery as the only method of protec- 
tion. The motion was defeated. It was followed by an- 
other to strike out the words "the several States" and 
insert " the people of the United States." This was intend- 
ed to counteract Calhoun's basic theory. In regard to it 
Clay remarked : " If the Senator will frame his amendment 
according to the historical fact in the adoption of the Con- 
stitution I will vote for it. The historical fact is that the 
Constitution was adopted by the people of the several 
States, acting within their respective limits." 2 This motion 

1 " I am greatly deceived," lie continued, "if in both respects lie has 
not signally failed. He was caught in his own trap." — Clay to Brooke, 
January 13, 1838. 

2 In a subsequent speech on this subject he said . " With regard to the 
point so much insisted upon in this debate, and which has produced great 



Ch. X.] TO PREVENT ATTACKS OX SLAVERY 385 

also failed, and the resolution as it then stood was adopted, 
31 to 11. 

The fourth specifically applied the general doctrines of 
the three first to the institution of slavery, and declared that 
all attacks upon it " are in manifest violation of the mutual 
and solemn pledge to protect and defend each other given 
by the States respectively on entering into the Constitutional 
compact which formed the Union, and as such are a mani- 
fest breach of faith and a violation of the most solemn ob- 
ligations, moral and religious." The preceding resolutions 
precluded debate on this one, and it was adopted, 34 to 5, 
after the words " moral and religious " were stricken out. 

Thus far the resolutions had met with no effective opposi- 
tion ; but it was apparent after the fourth was disposed of 
that the two last could not be adopted. Calhoun had carried 
his doctrines too far. The fifth resolution was : " That the 
intermeddling of any State or States, or their citizens, to abol- 
ish slavery in this District or any of the Territories, on the 
ground or under the pretext that it is immoral or sinful, or 
the passage of any act or measure of Congress with that view, 
would be a direct and dangerous attack on the institutions 
of all the slave-holding States." It was plainly not accept- 
able to the majority. One Senator contended that the reso- 
lution was not declaratory of Constitutional rights, but of 
expediency — a legitimate field for difference of opinion 
and discussion. Others disapproved of the phraseology 
while agreeing with the general purport. The suggestion 



controversy in former times, whether the Constitution is to be regarded as 
the work of the people of the United States collectively or of the separate 
States composing the confederacy, I have always thought that more im- 
portance is attached to it than it deserves. The real question in consider- 
ing the instrument is not how the Constitution was made, but what is it as 
it is ?" 
25 



386 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

was made that Calhoun should consent to insert " on any 
pretext whatever " instead of " on the ground or under 
the pretext that it is immoral or sinful"; but he refused. 
A motion was then made to insert " also a violation of 
the public faith implied in the cession of this District by 
the States of Virginia and Maryland." Calhoun said that 
he had always been of the opinion that any interference 
with slavery in the District would not only be a violation 
of the public faith, but also unconstitutional ; and that he 
had not thought proper to assert it, as he knew that a 
majority of the Senate was of a different opinion, and 
therefore his "object was to place the question on no par- 
ticular portion of the Constitution, but on its general char- 
acter and structure, which was much stronger and much 
less liable to be disputed." He neither objected nor con- 
sented to the proposed amendment, which was then carried. 
These details are essential to a full understanding of the 
origin of the causes ttrt led to the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise and the final defence of slavery that resulted 
in the-5koJ.Hpn. 

At this juncture Clay, who had taken but small part in 
the previous discussions, spoke at some length, and in the 
course of his speech presented a series of resolutions to con- 
form to his own conception of what should be declared. 
He declined to vote for either the fifth or sixth of Calhoun's 
resolutions, and asserted that he had voted for the others 
"not from any confidence in their healing virtues." Con- 
sidering all the circumstances, especially the manner in 
which Calhoun had " pressed them on the Senate," he was 
of the opinion that at the North they might " increase and 
exasperate instead of diminishing and assuaging the existing 
irritation." 



Ch. X.] CLAY'S RESOLUTIONS 387 

The sixth resolution was designed, in inferential terms, to 
protect slavery in Texas, should that country be annexed to 
the United States. To this Clay objected as blending " the 
two unhappy causes of agitation together." He also con- 
demned Calhoun's plan to create what was afterward called 
the "solid South," on the States-rights platform, and to place 
in the keeping of one party, instead of all, the peculiar inter- 
ests of the slave-holding States. He then discussed the right 
of petition, declaring himself in favor of rejecting petitions 
that prayed for relief which Congress clearly did not pos- 
sess the Constitutional power to grant, but in other cases to 
receive them and dispose of them respectfully. His policy 
was to keep the abolitionists " separate and distinct from 
all other classes," and " the subject of abolition separate and 
distinct from all other subjects." He believed in argument 
to quiet the agitation. To preserve our institutions and 
the Union, he " would argue with any one, with lunatics 
themselves in their lucid interva 1 , and argue again and 
again." He had no apprehension for the safety of the 
Union. "We allow ourselves," said he, "to speak too fre- 
quently and with too much levity of a separation of the 
Union. It is a terrible word, to which our ears should not 
be familiarized. I desire to see in continued safety and 
prosperity this Union and no other Union. I go for this 
Union as it is, one and indivisible, without diminution. I 
will neither voluntarily leave it nor be driven out of it by 
force. Here in my place I shall contend for all of the rights 
of the State which has sent me here. I shall contend for 
them with undoubting confidence and in all the security 
which the Union confers, under all the high sanctions which 
the guarantees of the Constitution affords, and with perfect 
conviction that they are safer in the Union than they would 



388 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

be out of the Union. I am opposed to all separate confed- 
eracies and to all sectional conventions. ISTo state of actual 
danger exists to render them expedient or to justify deliber- 
ation about them. This Union, this government, has done 
nothing, nothing whatever, to excite the smallest alarm. 
It will do nothing ; but if it should, if contrary to all 
human probability the rights of the slave - holding States 
shall be assailed by any authoritative act emanating from 
this capital, a state of things for resistance, forcible re- 
sistance, will then occur. It will be time enough then 
to act." 

His resolutions were eight in number. The two first de- 
clared that slavery in the States was exclusively subject to 
the power and control of those States respectively ; that no 
other State nor the people of any other State had any Con- 
stitutional authority to interfere with it ; and that all peti- 
tions touching slavery in the States be therefore instantly 
rejected ; the fourth and fifth, that" slaveiy ought not to be 
abolished in the District, but that in deference to the right 
of petition Congress was bound to and would receive, re- 
spectfully treat, and refer to the appropriate committee, 
petitions on that subject if couched in decorous language ; 
the seventh and eighth, that Congress was without power to 
prohibit the slave-trade between the States ; and that while 
the Senate had seen with painful regret the antislaverj 7 
agitation, it beheld "with the deepest satisfaction, every- 
where prevailing an unconquerable attachment to the 
Union, as the sure bulwark of the safety, liberty, and hap- 
piness of the people of the United States." As no action 
was taken on these six resolutions, their only interest lies 
in their statement of Clay's opinions, on the points upon 
which they touched ; but as the other two became the basis 



Ch. X.] REASONS TO SUSTAIN SLAVERY 389 

of substitutes for Calhoun's fifth and sixth resolutions, they 
possess historical importance. 

The third recited that when the District was ceded by 
Virginia and Maryland slavery existed in both States, in- 
cluding the ceded territory, and that as it still continued in 
both States " it could not be abolished within the District 
without a violation of that good faith which was implied in 
the cession and in the acceptance of the territory, nor unless 
compensation were made to the proprietors of slaves, with- 
out a manifest violation of an amendment to the Consti- 
tution of the United States, nor without exciting a degree 
of just alarm and apprehension in the States recognizing 
slavery, far transcending in mischievous tendency any pos- 
sible benefit which could be accomplished by the abolition." 
The sixth of the series declared that "it would be highly 
inexpedient to abolish slavery in Florida, the only Territory 
of the United States in which it now exists, because of the 
serious alarm and apprehensions which would be thereby 
excited in the States sustaining that domestic institution ; 
because the people of that Territory have not asked it to be 
done, and when admitted as a State into the Union, they 
will be exclusively entitled to decide that question for them- 
selves"; also because it would be in violation of the Com- 
promise of 1820. The latter reason, however, was omitted 
when the resolution was considered. After some further 
observations, in which he said that there was nothing ab- 
stract or metaphysical in his resolutions, and that he did 
not concur in declaring that the abolition of slavery in the 
District would be a direct attack upon the institution of 
slavery in the States, Clay proposed to offer the third and 
sixth as amendments to Calhoun's fifth. He concluded by 
formally moving the third for that purpose. 



390 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

A vigorous discussion followed, principally between Cal- 
houn and Clay ; for Calhoun was extremely averse to yield- 
ing on any part of his programme. He thoroughly disap- 
proved of Clay's conciliatory method, and declared that the 
difference between them was "as wide as the poles." But 
in the main Clay's propositions received decided approba- 
tion. The proposed amendment went through the usual 
process of verbal change, and was finally adopted, 36 to 9, 
in this form : " That the interference by the citizens of any 
of the States with the view to the abolition of slavery in 
this District is endangering the rights and security of the 
people of the District, and that any act or measure of Con- 
gress designed to abolish slavery in this District would be 
a violation of faith implied in the cessions by the States of 
Virginia and Maryland, a just cause of alarm to the people 
of the slave-holding States, and have a direct and inevitable 
tendency to disturb and endanger the Union." 

The resolution in the form originally submitted by Clay 
was much the better, as it stated the concrete reasons for 
the sentiment it expressed. But Clay never stood out for 
any particular formula of words when the substance he 
sought was stated ; results were always his object, though 
they could only be attained by sacrifice. In 1836 he ad- 
mitted the Constitutional power of Congress to abolish 
slavery in the District, and that there was no condition in 
the cession to prevent its exercise. The " violation of faith " 
asserted in the resolution was not placed on either ground, 
but on the inexpediency of abolition in the District under 
all the circumstances ; and this position was unquestionably 
sound. "Webster showed conclusively that there would be 
no violation of anything contained in the statutes and in- 
struments which effected the cession if slavery were abol- 



Ch.X.] slavery in THE TERRITORIES 391 

ished in the District, and he objected to the terras of the 
resolution, though he was opposed to any interference with 
slavery there. He voted against all the resolutions because 
he could not approve the terms in which they were ex- 
pressed. 

Clay's sixth resolution was then taken up. Reference to 
the Compromise was omitted, and the resolution was made 
to apply to " any Territory of the United States " instead of 
to Florida. The additional reason was inserted that any 
attempt to abolish slavery in such Territory " would be a 
violation of good faith towards the inhabitants who have 
been permitted to settle with and hold slaves therein." 
Thus changed, the resolution was adopted, 35 to 9. Cal- 
houn's last resolution was laid on the table, and the de- 
bate, which had extended over two weeks, was terminat- 
ed. 1 The Senate turned with relief to other things; for 
not only was discussion of the slavery question distasteful 
to nearly all the members, and in their judgment unwise 
and impolitic, but they did not regard the subject as of suf- 
ficient importance to receive the attention that Calhoun 
compelled. 2 And in the public mind it was of minor conse- 

1 Webster spoke on March 12 and 13. " The House was deserted again 
this day. Webster finished his speech in the Senate, universally thought 
the most splendid and powerful of his efforts. There was no possibility 
of keeping a quorum in the House." — Adams's Diary, vol. ix. p. 509. 

2 The action of the Senate on these resolutions is styled by Von Hoist 
"cheap and cowardly cunning," and Clay's compromises, " opiates to stu- 
pefy the thought and especially the moral feeling of the people." This 
author, here as elsewhere, is unmindful of the true and practical considera- 
tions : that constitutionally and legally the resolutions, as adopted, were 
for the most part sound ; that Congress was, as it always will be, influ- 
enced by practical considerations ; and that under all the circumstances 
the temporizing policy was the only practical and efficacious one to pur- 
sue. The only logical alternative is to say that all the Constitutional guar- 
antees of slavery should have been overthrown, and slavery forcibly abol- 
ished. Such criticism hardly deserves refutation. 



392 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1833 

quence as compared with the state of the country and the 
political and financial questions of the hour. 

The leading topic before Congress was again the inde- 
pendent Treasury. A bill similar to the one that failed at 
the special session was soon introduced. The debate upon 
it was even more extended and elaborate than before, al- 
though substantially the same arguments were employed. 
It was passed by the Senate by a majority of two votes, but 
not until the provisions requiring specie payments to the 
government were stricken out, which caused Calhoun and 
his followers to vote against it. In the House the bill was 
defeated by a majority of 14, the defection from the admin- 
istration being still the obstacle. But the system continued 
as before, de facto. 

The chief interest aroused by the debate centred in an 
encounter between Clay and Calhoun, which is notable in our 
parliamentary annals. February 15, Calhoun delivered a set 
speech on the measure. It was a plain argument, stating 
with more care and deliberation the views he had previous- 
ly expressed, and containing no personalities. Clay spoke 
on the 19th. It was manifest that his speech had been thor- 
oughly considered and that it was designed for political ef- 
fect, and incidentally the castigation of Calhoun, to which 
the latter part of it was devoted. For seven years Clay, 
"Webster, and Calhoun had co-operated in the leadership of 
the opposition to the Jackson party ; and when Calhoun 
forsook them to join in the support of Yan Buren it natu- 
rally aroused in his former allies a feeling of resentment 
bound to be revealed, notwithstanding their growing aver- 
sion to an alliance with the nullifiers. Indications of it were 
shbwn during the special session ; but that his attack might 
have all the force possible, Clay patient!} 7- bided his time. 



Ch.X.] A SECOND INDEPENDENT TREASURY BILL 393 

The plan was devised with great skill and executed with his 
wonted oratorical power. 

He began by an impressive statement of his sense of re- 
sponsibility, and continued: "Never before have I risen to 
express my opinions upon any public measure fraught with 
such tremendous consequences to the welfare and prosperity 
of the country, and so perilous to the liberties of the people, 
as I solemnly believe this bill to be. . . . And I have thanked 
my God that he has prolonged my life until the present 
time to enable me to exert myself in the service of my coun- 
try against a project far transcending in pernicious tendency 
any that I have ever had occasion to consider." After brief- 
ly describing the "eminently prosperous" condition of the 
country before " Andrew Jackson, not by the blessing of 
God, was made President of the United States," he com- 
pared the country in its existing condition to a ship " help- 
less and immovable upon breakers, the surge beating over 
her venerable sides, and the crew threatened with instanta- 
neous destruction," brought there " by his bungling naviga- 
tion or by his want of skill and judgment." 

He then set out to prove five propositions : that it was 
the deliberate purpose of the late administration to estab- 
lish a Treasury bank to be administered and controlled by 
the Executive Department ; that with this end in view the 
intention was to overthrow the entire banking system of the 
country ; that the attack was first confined to the Bank of 
the United States, and after its overthrow the attack was di- 
rected against the State banks ; that Van Buren's adminis- 
tration was pledged to complete and perfect the principles, 
plans, and policy of Jackson's administration ; and that the 
independent Treasury bill was intended to execute that 
pledge " by establishing upon the ruins of the late Bank of 



394 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

the United States and the State banks a government bank, 
to be managed and controlled by the Treasury Department 
acting under the commands of the President of the United 
States." The argument in support of these propositions pre- 
sented nothing that was novel except a new arrangement 
of materials which, for the most part, Clay had employed 
many times before. The first three propositions were based 
on Jackson's messages and farewell address, and the ar- 
gument was interspersed with specimens of Clay's long- 
practised art of denouncing Jackson, which these passages 
amply illustrate : 

" War and strife, endless war and strife, personal or na- 
tional, foreign or domestic, were the aliment of the Presi- 
dent's existence. War against the bank, war against France, 
and strife and contention with a countless number of indi- 
viduals. The wars with Black Hawk and the Seminoles 
were scarcely a luncheon for his voracious appetite. And 
he made his exit from public life denouncing war and ven- 
geance against Mexico and the State banks. . . . His ad- 
ministration consisted of a succession of astounding meas- 
ures which fell on the public ear like repeated bursts of loud 
and appalling thunder. Before the reverberations of one 
peal had ceased another and another came, louder and loud- 
er and more terrifying. Or rather, it was like a volcanic 
mountain emitting frightful eruptions of burning lava. Be- 
fore one was cold and crusted, before the voices of the 
buried villages and cities were hushed in eternal silence, 
another more desolating was vomited forth, extending wider 
and wider the circle of death and destruction." 

In connection with the fourth proposition — that the ad- 
ministration was pledged to carry out the policy of its pre- 
decessor — Van Buren became the object of Clay's invective. 



Ch. X.] CLAY AND VAN BUREN'S POLICY 395 

He exultingly cited the passage in Van Buren's letter of 
acceptance saying that he was " the honored instrument 
selected by the friends of the present administration to 
carry out its principles and polic}^," and that if elected he 
should " endeavor generally to follow in the footsteps of 
President Jackson." " The honored instrument !" Clay ex- 
claimed. " That word, according to the most approved def- 
inition, means tool. He was, then, the honored tool — to do 
what ? To promote the honor and advance the welfare of 
the people of the United States and to add to the glory of 
the country ? No, no ; his country was not in his thoughts. 
Party, party filled the place in his bosom which country 
should have occupied. He was the honored tool to carry 
out the principles and policy of General Jackson's adminis- 
tration." 

That Van Buren was striving to execute Jackson's finan- 
cial policy was undisputed, hence there was no difficulty in 
demonstrating the fact ; but that there was an ulterior de- 
sign to create a government bank in hostility to the State 
banks, as Clay contended, was not true, and his argument 
was far-fetched. His reasoning was practically the same as 
that of his speech at the special session, and failed to justify 
the awful apprehensions he had expressed with such dra- 
matic solemnity in his exordium. 1 

After concluding this part of the speech, in which all 
that Calhoun had opposed was vividly arrayed, he charac- 
terized him as the one, next to Van Buren, "most conspicu- 
ous of those who pressed this bill upon Congress and the 

1 "And what was the question at issue? It was whether Nicholas Biddle 
should have the custody of the public money and use the average balance 
iu discounting notes, or whether Mr. Cisco should keep it at New York in 
an exceedingly strong vault and not use any of it in discounting notes." — 
Parton's Famous Americans, p. 46. 



396 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

American people," and referred to the disparaging esti- 
mates of Van Buren that Calhoun had often expressed. 
" On one occasion x not ver}^ distant, denying to him any of 
the nobler qualities of the royal beast of the forest, he at- 
tributed to him those which belong to the most crafty, most 
skulking, and one of the meanest of the quadruped tribe." 
Calhoun had intimated that the course of Clay and his 
friends was unpatriotic. Clay denied the justice of the re- 
proach. 

" We united," said he, " if indeed there were any alliance 
in the case, to restrain the enormous expansion of Execu- 
tive power, to arrest the progress of corruption, to rebuke 
usurpation, and to drive the Goths and Yandals from the 
capital, to expel Brennus and his horde from Rome. . . . 
And how often have we witnessed the Senator from South 
Carolina, with woful countenance and in doleful strains, 
pouring forth mournful and touching eloquence on the de- 
generacy of the times and the downward tendency of the 
republic. Day after day in the Senate have we seen the 
displays of his lofty and impassioned eloquence. ... At the 
critical moment the Senator left us ; he left us for the very 
purpose of preventing the success of the common cause. He 
took up his musket, knapsack, and shot-pouch, and joined the 
other party. He went, horse, foot, and dragoon, and he him- 
self composed the whole corps. . . . We did no wrong to the 
distinguished Senator from South Carolina. On the contrary, 
we respected him, confided in his great and acknowledged 
ability, his uncommon genius, his extensive experience, his 
supposed patriotism ; above all, we confided in his stern and 
inflexible fidelity. Nevertheless, he left us and joined our 
common opponents, distrusting and distrusted. He left us, as 
he tells us in his Edgefield letter, because the victory which 



Ch.X.] CLAY ATTACKS CALHOUN 397 

our corainoii arms were about to achieve was not to inure 
to him and his party, but exclusively to the benefit of his 
allies and their cause. I thought, actuated by patriotism, 
that noblest of human virtues, we had been contending to- 
gether for our common country, for her violated rights, her 
threatened liberties, her prostrate Constitution. Never did 
I suppose that personal or party considerations entered into 
our views." 

He then passed to Calhoun's speech, which he slightingly 
characterized as " plausible, ingenious, abstract, metaphysi- 
cal, and generalizing, 1 ' not " adapted to the bosoms and 
business of human life " ; and replied to it without further 
personalities except to say that Calhoun's opinions as to the 
constitutionality of a national bank had entirely changed. 
And there was no need of any — his blow had struck home. 

As soon as he had concluded, Calhoun arose and said that 
Clay had misstated and perverted every argument he had 
advanced ; that he intended to pay his respects to the Sen- 
ator at the first opportunity; and that when he did so 
the debt between them would be fully discharged. Clay re- 
joined that whether or not he had misstated or perverted 
Calhoun's arguments was not for that Senator to say — he 
would appeal to a less partial judge, the Senate ; that as to 
any intention of paying on the Senator's part, he was as 
ready to receive as the Senator was to pay ; that he sought 
a contest with no man and should not avoid one with the 
Senator. 1 The significance of the affair was well understood. 



1 " The galleries were all filled two hours before the time of the Sen- 
ate's meeting. . . . Mr. Clay rose to the order of the day at one o'clock 
and spoke until half-past five. In the course of the speech, Mr. Clay bore 
somewhat hard upon Mr. Calhoun for his recent apostasy and replied to 
his arguments in favor of the bill, to which the latter replied in a few ex- 
ceedingly harsh and ill-natured remarks. ... I thought there was a degree 



398 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

Clay had put Calhoun on trial for inconsistency ; and the 
charges were so grave that he was obliged to meet them 
with all the ingenuity, eloquence, and power that he pos- 
sessed. Clay's indictment was so well matured and effec- 
tively preferred that Calhoun fully appreciated the neces- 
sity of a defence prepared with equal deliberation and the 
utmost thoroughness. It was to be, as he declared, the vin- 
dication of his public life and character. He was in no 
haste. Not until March 20 did he deliver his replv. 1 

The first part of his speech related to his former argu- 
ments, which he alleged Clay had perverted. He then pro- 
ceeded with his personal defence. So far as concerned his 
position on financial questions while acting with the Whigs, 
he was successful in showing that his present attitude was 
not inconsistent. Had he been able to rest his case there 
it would have been quite secure. He was not a Whig, and 
he was under no obligation to co-operate with the Whig 
party. His support of Van Buren's administration, there- 
fore, involved in itself no treachery and no breach of polit- 
ical propriety toward his late allies. But while he stoutly 
contended for this he had admitted in his Edgefield letter — 
a communication to friends in South Carolina in which he 
declined a public dinner — that in supporting Yan Buren he 
was influenced by another motive than to abide by his con- 
victions as to the right financial policy for the government 
to pursue : that by continuing his alliance with the Whigs 

of acrimony and ill-uature in his reply much greater than the occasion jus- 
tified." — Hone's Diary, vol. i. p. 290. 

1 " I happened to know that in this time he refreshed his reading of the 
Oration on the Crown ; and, as the delivery of the speech showed, not 
without profit. Besides its general cast, which was a good imitation, there 
were passages of a vigor and terseness — of a power aud simplicity — 
which would recall the recollection of that masterpiece of the world." — 
Benton's Thirty Years' View, vol. ii. p. 98. 



Ch. X.] CALHOUN REPLIES TO CLAY 399 

at the new juncture of events it was "clear that the victory 
would inure not to us, but exclusively to the benefit of our 
allies and their cause." Nor did he in his speech disavow 
or qualify the truth of that statement : he strove to justify 
his course in that respect as being legitimate political tac- 
tics to preserve the States-rights party and its principles. It 
was at best but slippery ground upon which to stand ; and 
although his justification was presented with his usual sub- 
tleness and abilit^v, it manifestly lacked that quality of ster- 
ling political rectitude which he would have sustained in 
the early part of his career. 

To Clay's characterization of his speech as metaphysical, 
he made a keen reply. " I cannot retort," said he, " on the 
Senator's charge of being metaphysical. I cannot accuse 
him of possessing the powers of analysis and generalization, 
those higher faculties of the mind (called metaphysical by 
those who do not possess them) which decompose and resolve 
into their elements the complex masses of ideas that exist 
in the world of mind — as chemistry does the bodies that 
surround us in the material world ; and without which those 
deep and hidden causes which are in constant action and 
producing such mighty changes in the condition of socie- 
ty would operate unseen and undetected. The absence of 
these higher qualities of mind is conspicuous throughout 
the whole course of the Senator's public life. To this may 
be traced that he prefers the specious to the solid and the 
plausible to the true. To the same cause, combined with an 
ardent temperament, it is owing that we ever find him 
mounted upon some popular and favorite measure, which he 
whips along, cheered by the shouts of the multitude, and 
never dismounts till he has ridden it down. ... It is the 
fault of his mind to seize on a few prominent and strik- 



400 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

ing advantages, and to pursue them eagerly without look- 
ing to consequences." 

He then reviewed his own public life, in the effort to show 
that he had uniformly acted according to his convictions, 
regardless of party trammels ; and cited his opposition to 
the restrictive system, his support of the navy, and his 
attitude toward "Mr. Dallas's bank of 1814-15" to justify 
his contention. Then " passing the intervening instances," 
he extolled his administration of the War Department. 
The Y ice-Presidency, he said, afforded him the leisure and 
opportunity " to study the genius of the prominent measure 
of the clay, then called the American S} T stem ; of which I 
profited. I soon perceived where its errors lay and how it 
would operate. I clearly saw its desolating effects in one 
section and corrupting influence in the other; and when I 
saw it could not be arrested here I fell back on my own 
State, and a blow was given to a system destined to destroy 
our institutions, if not overthrown, which brought it to the 
ground." 

Such was the tenor of his defence. He had studiously 
avoided the most vulnerable features of his career, which 
were caused by his radical change of views and his conduct 
in relation to the tariff, internal improvements, and a nation- 
al bank ; and b}^ asserting that the nullification proceed- 
ings had crippled protection, he gave Clay precisely the ad- 
vantage best suited to his method and style of attack. Clay 
was now relieved of the necessity of making veiled allusions 
and general statements. Calhoun had opened the way for 
particular denunciation, and Clay promptly and with impas- 
sioned zeal seized the opportunity. 1 

1 Salmon P. Chase wrote in his diary, April 10, 1830: "It is said that 
he [Calhoun] was desirous of supporting the administration of Mr. Adams, 



Ch. X.] NULLIFICATION AND PROTECTION 401 

He began by expressing his regret at precipitating a per- 
sonal controversy, and by asserting that what he had said 
was in the performance of a public duty. He had long 
served with the Senator, admired his genius, and struggled 
to think well of him ; but the Edgefield letter had changed 
his opinions. He indignantly repelled the assertion that 
nullification overthrew the protective sj^stem. " At the com- 
mencement of the session of 1832," he said, " the Senator 
was in any other condition than that of dictating terms. 
Those of us who were then here must recollect well his hag- 
gard looks and his anxious and depressed countenance. A 
highly estimable friend of mine, Mr. J. M. Clayton, of Dela- 
ware, alluding to the possibility of a rupture with South 
Carolina, and declarations of President Jackson with respect 
to certain distinguished individuals he had denounced and 
proscribed, said to me on more than one occasion, referring 
to the Senator from South Carolina and some of his col- 
leagues, 'They are clever fellows, and it will never do to 
let old Jackson hang them.' " Clay maintained that nullifi- 
cation, instead of overthrowing protection, had, by aiding 
the Compromise, expressly sanctioned the Constitutional 

but was overruled by his native State. 'lie proposed,' a gentleman who 
had ample means of knowing the truth, recently remarked to me, ' to sup- 
port the administration, in a caucus of South Carolinians.' The proposition 
was received with disgust, and Governor Taylor rose and exclaimed : 
' Crucify him!' So decided disapprobation alarmed and discouraged him. 
He fell in with the prevailing sentiment and went for Jackson." — War- 
den's Chase, p. 214. Certainly he at once entered actively into the opposi- 
tion, and as Vice-President appointed the Senate committees adversely to 
the administration. — Sumner's Jackson, p. 111. He declared that "Such 
was the manner in which it came into power that it must be defeated at all 
hazards, regardless of its measures." — Von Hoist's Calhoun, p. 65. This 
was the leading sentiment of the opposition. " In the words of one of the 
most distinguished of General Jackson's supporters, the administration 
must be put down, ' though as pure as the angels at the right hand of 
God.'"— Sargent's Clay, p. 123. 
26 



402 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1833 

power and perpetuated the system; and that in every in- 
stance where he and Calhoun had disagreed concerning the 
terms of the Compromise Calhoun had yielded. "Nullifica- 
tion!" he exclaimed; "a strange, impracticable, incompre- 
hensible doctrine, that partakes of the character of the 
metaphysical school of German philosophy, or would be 
worthy of the puzzling theological controversies of the 
Middle Ages!" 

He admitted that "no one, in the commencement of the 
protective policy, ever supposed that it was to be perpetual. 
"We hoped and believed that temporary protection extended 
to our infant manufactures would bring them up and en- 
able them to withstand competition with those of Europe." 
He commented caustically on Calhoun's acknowledged po- 
litical motive in dissolving the alliance, and explained his 
own action in voting for Adams in 1824, to which Calhoun 
had alluded, and his change of opinion in 1816 in regard to 
a national bauk, the only time he had ever changed his " de- 
liberate opinion upon any great question of national policy." 
" The distinguished Senator," said he, " sticks long to no 
hobb}\ He was once gayly mounted on that of internal 
improvements. We rode that double, the Senator before 
and I behind him. He quickly slipped off, leaving me to 
hold the bridle." This he showed by stating what Cal- 
houn proposed in his advocacy of that policy. In the same 
manner he illustrated Calhoun's early favor of a national 
bank. He closed in a strain of mingled sarcasm and con- 
tempt. 

" How profound he may suppose his power of analysis to 
be, and whatever opinion he may entertain of his own meta- 
physical faculty, can he imagine that any plain, common- 
sense man can ever comprehend how it is Constitutional to 



Ch. X.] CALHOUN AND HIS EARLY PRINCIPLES 403 

prolong an unconstitutional bank for twelve years? ... I 
do not speak of this in any unkind spirit, but I will tell the 
Senator when he will be consistent. He will be so when he 
resolves henceforward never to pronounce that word again. 
We began our public career nearly together; we remained 
together throughout the war and down to the peace. We 
agreed as to a Bank of the United States — as to a protective 
tariff — as to internal improvements — and lastly, as to those 
arbitrary and violent measures which characterized the ad- 
ministration of General Jackson. No two prominent public 
men ever agreed better together in respect to important 
measures of national policy. We concur now in nothing 
We separate forever." 

The speeches then subsided into a colloquy, in which Cal- 
houn endeavored to explain away Clay's assertions as to his 
early career and Constitutional views ; but he was not and 
could not be successful. He had radically changed his opin- 
ions, and there was no escape from the fact. 1 The liberal 
statesman had become the chief defender of the slavery inter- 
est, and by necessary consequence had revised and metamor- 
phosed his former tenets to conform to his new creed. On 



1 " It will excite some surprise at the present day," says Edward Ever- 
ett, in his Memoir of Webster, " in the consideration of the political history 
of the last thirty years, to find how little difference as to the leading meas- 
ures existed in 1816 between these distinguished statesmen [Clay, Calhoun, 
Webster, Lowndes, and Chevcs]. No line of general party difference sepa- 
rated the members of the first Congress after the peace." And this simi- 
larity of opinion continued until 1824. In the Presidential campaign of 
that year, before the election by the House, Benton, Buchanan, Tyler, 
Blair, and others who afterward stood high in the Democratic party, were 
warm supporters of Clay. At that period Van Buren also shared the pre- 
vailing opinions in favor of internal improvements and protection. In the 
Senate he supported the tariff of 1828. He was among the first, how- 
ever, to change his ground, and he led the way to the reconstruction of 
the Democratic creed. See Shepard's Van Buren, pp. 83, 85. 



404 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

the whole, therefore, Clay had the advantage both on the 
merits of the subject and in the superiority of his talent for 
that kind of controversy ; l and the result of the encounter 
afforded the Whigs keen delight, for the debate was printed 
and read throughout the country. 

Several financial measures of less importance than the 
proposed independent Treasury were enacted. In accord- 
ance with the recommendation of the President, the issue 
and circulation of all bills, notes, and other securities of 
corporations whose charters had expired were prohibited 
and made penal, the law being particularly aimed at the 
notes of the former Bank of the United States. The banks 
in the District were compelled to adopt the financial policy 
of the administration. They — and by another act, all cor- 
porations, firms, and individuals also — were required to cease 
the issue and circulation of all paper currency of a lower 
denomination than five dollars ; and those that had issued 
such paper were required to redeem it. The District banks 



1 " The truth and the victory were with Clay, who closed with the taunt- 
ing hope that the settlement of accounts was as satisfactory to the Senator 
from South Carolina as it was to him. Clay spoke of the South Carolina 
nullification with such insulting contempt that it hrought out Preston, who 
complained of it bitterly. Preston's countenance was a portraiture of agon- 
izing anguish. The personal oratorical encounters between Clay and Cal- 
houn are Liliputian mimicry of the orations against Ctesiphon and for the 
Crown or the debate of the second Philippic." — Adams's Diary, vol. ix. p. 
505. In Calhoun's speech in 1817 on the bill to set aside the dividends and 
the bonus of the bank as a permanent fund for internal improvements, he ex- 
pressed these sentiments : " I am no advocate for refined arguments on the 
Constitution. The instrument was not intended as a thesis for the logician 
to exercise his ingenuity on. It ought to be construed with plain good 
sense." "If we are restricted in the use of our money to the enumerated 
powers, on what principle can the purchase of Louisiana be justified ?" 
" The uniform sense of Congress and the country furnishes better evidence 
of the true interpretation of the Constitution than the most refined and 
subtle arguments." 



Ch. X.] CLAY ADVOCATES PAPER CURRENCY 405 

were also required to resume specie payments on or before 
January 1, 1839, or sooner if the banks of Baltimore and 
Richmond should do so. Clay opposed the measures. lie 
vigorously condemned the suppression of small notes in the 
District. Among other things he said : " The committee 
have wholly reversed the natural order of things; they have 
begun at the wrong end. They were looked to for some 
remedy to the disordered state of the currenc} 7 ; we had 
hoped for some cure to the general disorder; but instead 
of that they begin with this little District. . . . This bill is 
aimed at the poor, the miserable, the wretched portion 
of the community; against slaves, negroes, and beggars; 
against women and children! Here are fines to punish 
boys and girls if they go to market or offer to buy anything 
with the only money you have enabled them to have in 
their possession." And again : " The committee have since 
the commencement of the session strained every nerve, and 
have produced this sixpenny bill to put down shin-plasters." 
He was persistent in his advocacy of paper currency. Be- 
fore the time arrived for the New York banks to resume 
specie payments he introduced a joint resolution to permit 
the demand notes of sound banks to be paid for all public 
dues and to be disbursed to public creditors willing to re- 
ceive them. His professed purpose was to aid resumption ; 
his real object was to aid the delinquent banks and indi- 
rectly restore the paper system by rescinding the specie 
circular. The resolution was vigorously opposed by the 
leading supporters of the administration ; but its tactical 
efficiency carried it through after an entire change of 
phraseology. Late in the session it was adopted in this 
form : " That it shall not be lawful for the Secretary of 
the Treasury to make or continue in force any general 



406 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1838 

order which shall create any difference between the dif- 
ferent branches of revenue, as to the money or medium of 
payment in which debts or dues accruing to the United 
States may be paid." The Secretary of the Treasury, how- 
ever, was enabled to preserve the policy of the specie cir- 
cular under provisions of law which Congress had appar- 
ently overlooked. 

Some other topics were discussed. Notwithstanding his 
position as the expectant Whig nominee for the Presidency, 
he spoke on them with his usual freedom. On presenting one 
of the many petitions for the establishment of a national 
bank, he took occasion to detail his plan for such an institu- 
tion. He opposed the public-lands policy of the administra- 
tion; and supported a bill to prohibit duelling, which became 
a law at the next session. 1 

He also expressed his views on three international ques- 
tions. In regard to the proposal to erect a Territorial 
government for Oregon, he urged such a course as would 
obviate difficulty with Great Britain over the mooted north- 
western boundary. But concerning the affair of the Caroline, 
which had recently occurred, his attitude was bolder. The 
Caroline was a steamboat owned by American citizens, and 
was seized and destroyed in our waters by Canadian militia, 



1 "It is well known," said he, in the course of his remarks, "that in 
certain quarters of the country public opinion is averse to duelling, and no 
public man can fly in the face of that public opinion without having his 
reputation sacrificed ; while there are other portions again which exact 
obedience to that fatal custom. The man with a high sense of honor and 
nice sensibility, when the question is whether he shall fight or have the 
finger of scorn pointed at him, is unable to resist, and few, very few, are 
found willing to adopt such an alternative. When public opinion is ren- 
ovated and chastened by reason, religion, and humanity, the practice of 
duelling will at once be discontinued. It is the office of legislation to do 
all it can to bring about this healthful state of the public mind." 



Cii.X.] VARIOUS LEGISLATIVE ENACTMENTS 407 

who killed several men in the affray. The act was insti- 
gated by the fact that the vessel was employed in aid of the 
insurgents. It was one of the numerous disturbances along 
the border which arose from the Canadian rebellion. Clay 
denounced the affair as an " unparalleled outrage," and vig- 
orously maintained that redress should be demanded. On 
the subject of the Mexican claims he expressed himself in 
much the same manner as he had when it was previously 
before Congress. "The want of dignity," said he, "and 
the want of temper that have been manifested by persons 
connected with the government in relation to this whole 
matter are greatly to be deplored." The session ended 
July 9. 

The last session of the Twenty -fifth Congress — from 
December 3 to March 3, 1839 — developed little of historic 
interest. The Sub - Treasury question was allowed to rest 
until the next session, as the political conditions were still 
unfavorable to the passage of the bill. Much useful and 
necessary legislation was enacted ; but having no relation 
to politics, it did not cause prolonged debates. Besides the 
law against duelling, the most conspicuous acts of general 
interest were those abolishing imprisonment for debt, on 
process issued out of the Federal courts in States where 
that policy was adopted ; and to authorize the President 
to maintain, by force if necessary, our claim to the territory 
in the extreme northeast, to which the British government 
had thus far refused to accede. On this subject there was 
considerable public excitement. 

The administration bill to reduce and graduate the prices 
of the public lands was finally passed by the Senate. Clay 
earnestly opposed it, but Webster supported it. It failed, 
however, in the House. In connection with some resolu- 



408 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1839 

tions adopted by the legislature of North Carolina declar- 
ing the expunging resolution unconstitutional, the question 
incidentally arose as to what extent Representatives were 
bound by such instructions. Clay thus expressed the theory 
then commonly entertained : 

" What is the basis and what the principle of the doctrine 
of instruction ? To a certain extent I have always believed 
in this doctrine and have been ever ready to conform to it. 
But I hold to the doctrine as it stood in 1798, that in gen- 
eral, on questions of expediency, the Representative should 
conform to his instructions, and so gratify the wishes and 
obey the will of his constituents, though on questions of 
constitutionality his course might be different. . . . Is it not 
that we are to conform to the wishes of our constituents? 
Is it not that we are here to act, not in our own, but in a 
delegated character ? And will any who stand here pretend 
that whenever they know the wishes or will of those who 
sent them here they are not bound to conform to that will 
entirely ? Is it not the doctrine that we are nothing more 
than a mirror to reflect the will of those who called us to 
our distinguished office? That is the view I take of the doc- 
trine of instruction." 

It originated in the early distrust of centralized govern- 
ment. It prevailed very generally prior to the Civil War, 
and was often applied. The constitutions of several States 
expressly authorized it, although no method was provided 
for enforcing it in case the Representatives declined to fol- 
low the instructions they received ; public sentiment, how- 
ever, was commonly efficacious. But the doctrine gradually 
fell into disuse, and has been superseded by the English 
theory, as enunciated by Blackstone and Burke, that repre- 
sentatives do not serve their local constituencies alone, but 



Ch. X.] THE SILVER COINAGE 409 

the whole nation, and therefore they are not subject to in- 
structions, and that their tenure is fixed by their election. 
This has proved to be the wiser and more orderly practice 
as applied to members of legislative bodies. 

Another topic of interesting, though brief, discussion was 
the subsidiary silver coin. In some localities there was a 
dearth of it. " I happened," said Clay, " to receive, but a 
few days ago, a communication from an intelligent gentle- 
man in one of our principal seaports, affirming that the 
scarcity of silver change was one of the effects of the pas- 
sage of the gold bill; because by reducing the standard of 
gold coin it became less valuable as an article of exportation 
than silver, and therefore the latter was always exported. 
Now this is exactly what was predicted by myself and 
others at the time of the passage of the law for the adjust- 
ment of the value of the two coins ; and the result has 
proved the correctness of the prediction. Gold cannot be 
exported under that law without disadvantage unless ex- 
change is greatly against us ; but silver can profitably be 
exported, and when exportation becomes necessary it is of 
course made in that species of coin in which it can be sent 
abroad without loss." 

His statements were at once challenged. " I think," said 
Niles, " there is no such scarcity ; I know that in many places 
it is abundant. Within my own experience banks have re- 
fused to receive it. This is convincing proof that there is 
an abundance of it. It is known to every one who has in- 
quired into the subject that silver change is never exported, 
because its nominal value would be lost and it could only be 
disposed of as bullion to be recoined, occasioning much loss 
by the process. There may be a scarcity of change in some 
States, but that is the result of their paper systems. The 



410 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1839 

hostility of paper to silver is well known ; indeed, so hostile 
is it that where it has the power even silver fippenny bits 
are driven out of circulation. What was the result in Phila- 
delphia, where the mint was located, during the late suspen- 
sion ? In that city, which previous to the suspension was 
thoroughly saturated with silver change, after the barrier 
was broken down and the emission of shin-plasters author- 
ized, no change whatever could be procured. In a single 
night the state of things was completely changed. Instead 
of an abundance of silver change there was an entire ab- 
sence of it. And a similar result will always follow a simi- 
lar cause ; and to the extension of our paper system, the 
circulation of one-dollar notes, and notes for a fractional 
part of a dollar, may we much more appropriately look for 
the scarcity of silver change than the operation of the gold 
bill of 1834." 

Niles ivas corroborated by others, particularly Benton. 
The truth is that silver had been undervalued by the act of 
1834, which had to some extent caused its exportation and 
conversion into bullion ; and paper had forced it out of 
circulation in some parts of the country. The lessons are 
obvious. 

At this session Clay made another of his calamitous mis- 
takes. But for his blunder he would probably have been 
nominated and elected President in 1840. It was occa- 
sioned by a set speech on the subject of slavery. Aside 
from it and Calhoun's comments on it, there was no other 
discussion of the question in the Senate. In the House 
the usual " gag " was at once adopted ; but this time it 
was prefaced by several resolutions introduced by Ather- 
ton, of New Hampshire, which echoed the Senate resolu- 
tions adopted at the preceding session. Clay was the lead- 



Ch. X.] CLAY A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE 411 

ing "Whig candidate for President, and the prospect of his 
nomination seemed certain. But he was not satisfied to rest 
upon his record in regard to slavery ; he determined to 
speak again on abolition, and this time more fully and de- 
liberately than he had ever spoken before, in the effort to 
placate, so far as possible, hostility to him on the part of 
the people of the South, and those of the North who were 
not radical in their antislavery opinions. He was mani- 
festly becoming alarmed at the spread of the agitation and 
the feeling toward it in the South. It is not unlikely that 
the speech, which was delivered February 7, was prepared at 
Ashland during the recess. That he was anxiously revolving 
the question in his mind appears from his correspondence. 1 
It was unusual for him to revise a speech after he had 
made it, much less to write it out before ; but in this case 
he not only wrote it, but he read it to a number of his close 
political friends for their opinion as to its expediency. It 
may be inferred from what little is known of this consulta- 
tion that he was advised against delivering the speech. He 
nevertheless pursued his common course, of listening to 
counsel, but following his own judgment. It was on this 
occasion that he made his famous remark : " I had rather 
be right than be President." 2 The Presidency, however, 

1 In a letter to his friend Brooke be expressed solicitude on account of 
the introduction of the abolition element into the elections, the first time 
it had been known, and the fear that the contagion would spread through 
all the free States, which might ultimately result in the abolitionists gain- 
ing control of the government, proscribing slave-holders, abolishing 
slavery in the District and the slave-trade between the States. "And," 

he continued, " the end will be My own position touching slavery at 

the present time is singular enough. The abolitionists are denouncing 
me as a slave-holder and the slave-holders as an abolitionist, while the 
both unite on Mr. Van Buren." — Clay's Correspondence, p. 430. 

a Colonel Thomas " says that Mr. Clay himself got up, and, he believes 
wrote, the anti-abolition petition from the District upon which he made his 



412 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1839 

was bis object, and tbe speecb limped sorely behind this 
ideal pretension. For so important a speech it was deliv- 
ered on an unusual pretext — the presentation of a petition 
signed by numerous residents of the District praying against 
the abolition of slavery there. 

He recurred to the opinion he had repeatedly expressed, 
that the wisest Avay to treat abolition petitions was " to re- 
ceive and refer them without opposition and report against 
them in a calm and dispassionate and argumentative appeal 
to the good sense of the whole community." As this had 
not been clone, he proposed " to advert to some of those 
topics which might have been usefully embodied in a report 
by a committee of the Senate, and which, he was persuaded, 
would have checked the progress, if it had not altogether 
arrested the efforts, of abolition." He divided those who 
were opposed to slavery into three classes : " those who 
from sentiments of philanthropy are conscientiously op- 
posed to the existence of slavery, but who are no less 
opposed at the same time to any disturbance of the peace 
and tranquillity of the Union or the infringement of the 
powers of the States composing the confederacy," notably 
the Society of Friends; "apparent abolitionists — that is, 



anti-abolition speech at the last session of Congress, and that its effect 
has been to demolish his hist possible chance for the Presidency. . . . Pres- 
ton has avowed in a speech at a Whig meeting and in a public letter that 
he was one of a small party of friends to whom Clay read his speech be- 
fore he delivered it in the Senate." — Adams's Diary, vol. x. p. 116. Pres- 
ton, who was Clay's chief supporter in the South,'said in the speech to which 
Adams refers : " On one occasion Mr. Clay did me tlie honor to consult 
me in reference to a step which he was about to take, and which will per- 
haps occur to your minds without more direct allusion. After stating 
what was proposed, it was remarked that such a step might be offensive to 
the ultras of both parties, in the excitement which then existed. To this 
Mr. Clay replied : ' I trust the sentiments and principles are correct ; I 
had rather be ri^ht than be President.' " 



Ch. X.] CLAY AND THE ABOLITIONISTS 413 

those who, having been persuaded that the right of petition 
has been violated by Congress, co-operate with the aboli- 
tionists for the sole purpose of asserting and vindicating 
that right "; and " the real ultra-abolitionists, who < r .re re- 
solved to persevere in the pursuit of their object at all 
hazards and without regard to any consequences, however 
calamitous they may be." The latter class he denounced in 
terms so passionately severe as absolutely and permanently 
to complete their alienation from his support, and he thus 
defeated, as events demonstrated, the possibility of his elec- 
tion to the Presidency. 1 " It is," said he, after his terrible 
arraignment, " because these ultra-abolitionists have ceased 
to employ the instruments of reason and persuasion, have 
made their cause political, and have appealed to the bal- 
lot-box, that I am induced upon this occasion to address 
you." 

Pie reviewed the different periods during which the spirit 
of abolition had displayed itself, and ascribed the agitation 
then existing principally to " the example of British eman- 
cipation of the slaves in the islands adjacent to our country," 
and to " persons in both parts of the Union who sought to 
mingle abolition with politics and to array one portion of 
the Union against the other," but denied that either of the 
two great political parties had " designs or aim at abolition." 
He discussed the power and expediency of abolishing slavery 
in the District and the Territory of Florida, and of pro- 
hibiting the slave-trade between the States, repeating and 



1 Clay's "speech in the United States Senate, on February 7, 1839, 
apropos of the petitions for abolition in the District, was his bid for the 
Presidency, and as such was the most notable event of the year. It de- 
stroyed the last shred of his autislavery reputation at the North, except 
among the Friends, whom he was cunning enough to flatter." — Life of 
Garrison, vol. ii. p. 282. 



414 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1839 

amplifying the arguments be had advanced in connection 
with the resolutions on those subjects. But these subjects, 
he asserted, " are but so many masked batteries concealing 
the real and ultimate point of attack. That point of attack 
is the institution of domestic slavery as it exists in these 
States. It is to liberate three millions of slaves held in 
bondage within them." 

To the abolition of slavery he urged three obstacles. The 
first was the want of Constitutional power, which he showed 
and which was incontestable. The second was the presence 
of three millions of slaves. " In the slave States," said he, 
in maintaining this proposition, "the alternative is that the 
white man must govern the black or the black govern the 
white. In several of those States the number of the slaves 
is greater than that of the white population. An immediate 
abolition of slavery in them, as these ultra-abolitionists pro- 
pose, would be followed by a desperate struggle for imme- 
diate ascendency of the black race over the white race, or 
rather it would be followed by the instantaneous collision 
between the two races, which would break out in civil war 
that would end in the extermination or subjugation of one 
race by the other. In such an alternative who can hesitate ? 
Is it not better that the existing state of things should be 
preserved instead of exposing them to the horrible strifes 
and contests which would inevitably attend an immediate 
abolition ? This is our true ground of defence for the con- 
tinued existence of slavery in our country. It is that which 
our Revolutionary ancestors assumed. It is that which, in 
my opinion, forms our justification in the eyes of all Chris- 
tendom." The third obstacle was the vast amount of capital 
invested in slave property, which he estimated at twelve 
hundred millions of dollars. He asserted the legality and 



Ch. X.] WHAT ABOLITION WOULD EFFECT 415 

rightfulness of property in slaves, 1 and that if the scheme 
of abolition were to be executed the slave property should 
be paid for, and its value assessed entirely upon the free 
States. 

He contended that the agitation had retarded the pros- 
pect of any kind of emancipation, gradual or immediate, in 
any of the States, and " increased the rigors of legislation 
against slaves in most if not all of the slave States." '. 'hough 
he had favored gradual abolition, he now declared th«?t he 
would " oppose any scheme whatever of emancipation be- 
cause of the danger of an ultimate ascendency of the black 
race or of a civil contest which might terminate in the ex- 
tinction of one race or the other." In his opinion, emanci- 
pation would also result in the emigration of hordes of 
negroes to the North, which would increase the hardships of 
free labor there. He condemned the opposition of the aboli- 
tionists to colonization and to a separation of the two races, 
" which by their physical structure and color ought to be 
kept asunder, should not be brought together by any proc- 
ess whatever of unnatural amalgamation." The question 
whether or not the negroes were to remain forever in bond- 
age he hopefully left to the future, but predicted that " in 
the progress of time, some one hundred and fifty or two 
hundred years hence, but few vestiges of the black man 
will remain among our posterity." Notwithstanding his 
sanguine opinions at the preceding session, he now said that 
"abolition should no longer be regarded as an imaginary 
danger." Union on one side would beget union on the 
other. "And this process of reciprocal consolidation will 



1 Webster said, in 1848 : " I am not at the present moment aware of 
any place on the globe in which this property of man in a human being as 
a slave, transferable as a chattel, exists, except in America." 



416 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1839 

be attended with all the violent prejudices, embittered pas- 
sions, and implacable animosities which ever degraded or 
deformed human nature, a virtual dissolution of the Union 
will have taken place, while the forms of its existence re- 
main. The most valuable element of union — mutual kind- 
ness, the feelings of sympathy, the fraternal bonds — which 
now happily unite us will have been extinguished forever. 
One section will stand in menacing and hostile array against 
the other. The collision of opinion will quickly be followed 
by the clash of arms." 

" I am," he continued, " no friend of slavery. The Search- 
er of all human hearts knows that every pulsation of mine 
beats high and strong in the cause of civil liberty. Wher- 
ever it is safe and practicable, I desire to see every por- 
tion of the human family in the enjoyment of it. But I 
prefer the liberty of my own country to that of any other 
people, and the liberty of my own race to that of any other 
race." He palliated slavery as " a stern and inexorable ne- 
cessity," for which his generation was not responsible, and 
closed with an eloquent appeal to desist from further agi- 
tation for abolition. 

The speech was received in the Senate and through the 
country with profound surprise. By it Clay practically 
abjured the peculiar antislavery character he had hitherto 
maintained. ISTot only had he been in the Senate the lead- 
ing defender of the right of petition, but he had uniformly 
uttered the loftiest sentiments of freedom. Although he 
was a slave - holder and had strongly deprecated the anti- 
slavery movement, his personal situation was assigned to 
his unavoidable surroundings, and provoked no serious dis- 
favor except among the most radical abolitionists, and with 
these chiefly because of his efforts in behalf of colonization. 



Ch. X.] CLAY'S POLITICAL VACILLATION 417 

The arguments presented by bis speech were by no means 
novel, and, in the main, were generally entertained by the 
conservative elements in the North ; yet the speech was in- 
spired by a sentiment totally different from that which had 
distinguished his former utterances on slavery. It varied lit- 
tle, except as to the right of petition, from the anti-abolition 
speeches of the champions of slavery. Despite his proud 
vaunting of consistency and his criticism of Calhoun's oscil- 
lations, he now subjected his own conduct to the same re- 
buke. His protestations that there was nothing thus far in 
the extent and effect of the agitation that boded danger to 
the Union were still fresh in the public mind. Certainly 
there were no new developments within the last few months 
to render the situation more critical. Besides all this, his 
course was so unexpected and gratuitous that his motive 
was imputed — as it deserved to be — to the hope of political 
advantage. 1 The speech, therefore, gave the prevailing 
opinion of him a rude shock. And evidence of the effect 
of his performance was soon forthcoming. Calhoun at once 
commended him in terms that contained a sardonic tone of 
triumph. He began by alluding to the change in Clay's 
sentiments, which he warmly commended, and then spoke 
of the Senate resolutions of the preceding session, the Ath- 
erton resolutions in the House, and an address to the peo- 
ple signed by a number of public men, as breaking the 
force of the abolition movement. " The work is done," 
said he. "The spirit of abolition is overthrown, of which 



1 " The Governor of Kentucky and the members of the delegation from 
that State in the House are now so deeply committed upon all slavery 
questions that it is impossible to get the vote of Massachusetts for Mr. 
Clay ; and his only chance of election is by the Southern and slave-holding 
interest. . . . There is no good-will lost between Mr. Clay and Mr. "Web- 
ster." — Adams's Diary, vol. x. p. 77. 
27 



418 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1839 

we have a strong confirmation in what we have this day- 
heard. ... Of all the dangers to which we have ever been 
exposed this has been the greatest. "We may now consider 
it as passed. The resolutions to which I have referred, 
with the following movements, gave the fatal blow, to 
which the Senator from Kentucky has given the finishing 
stroke." 

Calhoun was soon to see how utterly mistaken he was in 
supposing that any progress had been made in allaying the 
agitation ; but neither he nor Clay was to see how greatly 
they erred in thinking that emancipation would be followed 
by a violent struggle for race supremacy. What Clay's feel- 
ings were while Calhoun was complacently discoursing on 
his conversion and his own fallacies cannot be known, but 
they may be imagined. The candidate had renounced the 
sentiments of the man, and he bore his self-sought humilia- 
tion mutely. He looked for compensation in the success of 
his ambition. But he had vaulted too far. 

He returned to Ashland confident that he would be nomi- 
nated for President at the Whig national convention to be 
held at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, December 4. The pros- 
pect, indeed, seemed flattering. He was the acknowledged 
chief of the party, the foremost champion of its principles, 
and the most popular among its masses. He had sustained 
its organization and morale through adversity and defeat. If 
ever any great political party owed its existence and endur- 
ance mainly to one man the Whig party is an example. He 
had able and dexterous coadjutors, yet no Whig could be 
compared with him in leadership and influence. In point 
of prominence and public service no one in the party could 
be named with him except Webster; but Webster was 
markedly deficient in the attributes of leadership. There 



Ch. X.] CLAY'S ASPIRATIONS THWARTED 419 

was never a day when be had the remotest possibility of 
becoming President, for at no time did he have any consid- 
erable support in his continuous candidacy for the nomina- 
tion. Perhaps no statesman of genius and intellectual power 
was ever so barren of political influence. His supporters for 
the Presidenc} 7 " w r ere always mostly confined to a small cote- 
rie of his New England admirers. Though mighty in seri- 
ous debate, he lacked those indefinable qualities that inspire 
popularity among the masses and political deference among 
leaders. Nevertheless, his ambition to attain the Presi- 
dency was morbidly intense, and he cherished a degree of 
envy toward Clay that led him to interpose, so far as he 
could, to thwart Clay's preferment. 1 This want of mag- 
nanimity toward Clay, under all the circumstances, was 
not creditable to him. Had not Clay pre-eminently de- 
served from his party the distinction he sought, it is not 
probable that he would have allowed his rivalry to impede 
Webster's elevation if he saw no reasonable prospect of his 
own. Perhaps this quality partly explains his great popu- 
larity and his capacity for leadership. Selfishness was not 
among his faults. It w r as soon apparent that he w T ould be 
stoutly opposed. Webster was in the field, if not to ob- 
tain the nomination, at least to aid covertly in defeating 
him. He w r as forced to decide upon the latter course. He 
withdrew, advised his friends that Clay was not the most 
available candidate, and spent the summer in Europe. But 
the danger from Webster's attitude was the least that con- 



1 "Some years after Mr. Webster's death John J. Crittenden said: 
' We all desired to see Clay and Webster elected to the Presidency, and 
we felt that to accomplish this object it was necessary that Clay should 
come first ; but we were never able to make Webster and his friends see 
this, and therefore neither of them won the prize.'" — Stanton's Random 
Recollections, p. 151. 



420 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1839 

fronted Clay ; it was but a small factor in the combined 
forces that were to accomplish his defeat. 

John Randolph once remarked that the principles of the 
Whig party were seven — five loaves and two fishes. This 
sarcasm contained much truth. The party was a hetero- 
geneous composition. It had its origin in Clay's factious 
opposition to Monroe's administration and matured in op- 
position to Jackson's. It of course assumed certain distinc- 
tive Constitutional principles, the outgrowth of which were 
protection, internal improvements, and a national bank. But 
to these policies were added one by one through the exigen- 
cies of political opposition other features, such as the distri- 
bution of the surplus, the disposition of the public lands, and 
the various assaults on Jackson's financial policy. The disaf- 
fected and recalcitrant elements of the Democratic part) 7 " were 
made welcome in the Whig fold ; and to accommodate them, 
concessions were made. Moreover, a large part of the North- 
ern wing of the party, though not abolitionist, was averse 
to slavery, and to mollify and restrain it had been a studied 
feature of the party policy. In short, efforts had been 
directed to combine with the Whigs, so far as practicable, 
all who were not Democrats, but who could be reconciled 
to the wide and variegated mosaic of the Whig platform. 
And now to all these elements of this complex array was 
added the host of victims of the late crisis, whose main po- 
litical desire was a change of administration. The feelings 
of this class had no relation to persons. Any suitable can- 
didate would answer, and all the better if he were not 
prominently identified with the theories and measures over 
which the past struggles had been so fiercely waged. 

The practical effect of these conditions upon the party 
was to beget a type of managers similar to those who had 



Ch. X.] THE TACTICS OF PARTY POLITICS 421 

brought the Democratic party into power. They were pro- 
fessional politicians. 1 They may be likened to horse-hairs 
in a pool, moved by animalculae. They were not hero-wor- 
shippers. Party principles were only among their weapons. 
Their object was victory. Prestige, worth, past service, 
alone weighed little with them. The base of their opera- 
tions was the choice of candidates who could poll the most 
votes. This decided, their processes and manipulations Avere 
directed to that result with a skill and an adroitness which 
politicians of the present day have not surpassed. These 
methods, as we have seen, were not new in the Democratic 
party. They began to be applied in Burr's time and were 
brought to perfection by Van Buren and the Albany Re- 
gency. They started Jackson on his career as candidate and 
President. They had now been adopted by the Whigs, par- 
ticularly in the State where they originated, and their chief 
practitioners were William II. Seward and Thurlow Weed. 
Such was the new danger to which Clay but slowly and 
partially awoke. 

It was more difficult to contend with this obstacle than 
with those which resulted from his former positions on 
various public questions. The latter he had for some time 
labored to counteract by letters and speeches designed to 
mitigate the impression that his opinions were extreme and 
inflexible. He had been assured by friends in the State of 
New York that he was decidedly the favorite of the Whigs 
there; and that Seward, then Governor, and AYeed, 2 and the 



1 " When, as in the United States, republican institutions, instead of be- 
ing slowly evolved, are all at once created, there grows up within them 
an agency of wire-pulling politicians, exercising a real rule of the people at 
large. . . . So that in the absence of a duly adapted character, liberty given 
in one direction is lost in another." — Spencer's Sociology, vol. ii. p. 662. 

■ " On one important question Mr. Weed and I were antipodes. Be- 



422 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1839 

machine of which they were the head, were " warmly and 
zealously " for him, notwithstanding that they deemed it at 
the time " inexpedient to make public declaration of their 
preference." But as his information grew more reliable he 
became suspicious of duplicity and determined to visit the 
State to do something for himself. Accordingly, in July 
and August he made a tour through some parts of Canada, 
ostensibly for health and pleasure. He stopped, however, 
at Buffalo, where he was accorded an enthusiastic reception 
and made a brief speech. In the course of his remarks he 
touched cautiously on politics, and then referred to his can- 
didacy. On the latter subject he advanced the argument 
that was to accomplish his defeat. "If my name," said he, 
" creates any obstacle to cordial union and harmony, away 
with it, and concentrate upon some individual more accept- 
able to all branches of the opposition. What is a public 
man worth who is not ever ready to sacrifice himself for the 
good of his country? I have unaffectedly desired retire- 
ment ; I yet desire it, when, consistently with the duties and 
obligations which I owe, I can honorably retire. No veteran 
soldier, covered with scars and wounds inflicted in many 
hard campaigns, ever received his discharge with more pleas- 
ure than I should mine. But I think that, like him, with- 
out presumption, I am entitled to an honorable discharge." 

He proceeded from Montreal by way of Lake Champlain 
to Saratoga, where he arrived August 9, and remained 
several days. There, as at all places he visited, he was re- 



lieving that a currency in part of paper kept at par with specie and cur- 
rent in every part of our country was indispensable, I was a zealous ad- 
vocate of a national bank ; which he as heartily detested, believing that its 
supporters would always be identified in the popular mind with aristoc- 
racy, monopoly, exclusive privilege, etc." — Greeley's Recollections of a 
Busy Life, p. 314. 



Ch. X.] CLAY IN HIS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN 423 

ceived with enthusiasm and display. 1 While there he had 
interviews with "Weed, who was now ready to disclose 
the disposition of the Whig managers toward his candi- 
dacy. He was informed that in their judgment he could 
not succeed in the election, notwithstanding the preference 
for him in the party. But he was too familiar with un- 
favorable counsel and adverse circumstances, as well as too 
much impressed with his apparent popularity, to be per- 
suaded that he would not be as strong as any other candi- 
date. He did not intimate that he understood the true sig- 
nificance of Weed's deliverance — that the delegation from 
the State would be against him in the convention. 2 Pre- 
sumably he relied on the majority of the party, which was 
undoubtedly in his favor, to override the plans of the leaders. 
If so, he totally misjudged their power. 

He reached the city of New York, his principal destina- 
tion, on the 21st, and was greeted by a demonstration of ex- 
ceptional magnitude and fervor. 3 All that he saw and heard 
touching himself and his candidacy confirmed his confidence. 
To all appearances the tour had produced the effect he sought. 
His return to Ashland was followed by the usual occupation 
of a leading candidate for Presidential nomination — conduct- 
ing a profuse correspondence and receiving zealous friends 
and advisers. 



] Hone's Diary, vol. i. p. 374. 

'-' Thurlow Weed's Autobiograpliy, vol. i. p. 480. 

3 Hone's Diary, vol. i. pp. 376-7. " In the summer of 1839 I heard Mr. 
Clay deliver an elaborate speech on the bank and Sub-Treasury question 
from an open barouche at the steps of the New York City Hall. He had 
been conducted by a long cavalcade of horsemen from the bank of the 
Hudson, and he was surrounded by an immense concourse. I stood at the 
junction of Broadway and Park Row. His voice rang so loud and clear 
that his words were distinctly reverberated from the wall of the Astor 
House. '—Stanton's Random Recollections, p. 153. 



424 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1839 

The operations of his opponents were already well under 
way. In New York the Whig leaders were undoubtedly 
opposed to his nomination for the reasons they professed. 
The State was the centre of the Anti - masonic element, 
which was against Clay ; and the abolitionists, continually 
increasing in number, were irrevocably hostile. Besides, the 
State was nominally Democratic. Thus, while Clay was pre- 
ferred by the Whig leaders, as well as by most of the regular 
rank and file of the party, they were sincere in their asser- 
tions that he could not be elected, and determined that the 
advantages and spoils of victory should not be imperiled by 
sentiment if they could prevent it. Yet it was impolitic to 
affront Clay and his steadfast friends by openly advocating 
the nomination of Harrison, his chief rival, who possessed 
the requisite qualifications of an "available" candidate. 
General Scott, therefore, was made the foil of their real de- 
sign and the medium of their operations. Clay was fervent- 
ly eulogized ; his ability, services, and desert were eloquently 
recognized ; his unfortunate position and political weakness 
pathetically mourned. Every contrivance of political in- 
genuity was utilized to circumvent the choice of delegates 
pledged to his support. Perhaps the most successful was 
what became known as the "triangular correspondence." 
The leader in one locality would regretfully write to the 
leaders in others that Clay's prospects were hopeless in his 
district, and therefore advise extra efforts elsewhere ; the 
others would reply in the same strain, and the replies would 
be industriously circulated. In many cases this device 
worked so well as to prevent the selection of delegates for 
Clay, contrary to the decided preponderance of sentiment 
for him. The outcome of these dexterous manipulations was 
that Clay had but ten votes from the State of New York, 



J 



Ch. X.] HARRISON THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE 425 

while Harrison had two avowedly, Scott twenty nominally, 
but subject to orders. 

The convention ' was held in a Lutheran church ; and 
the incongruity of the place with the occasion was made 
still more anomalous by the most extraordinary machina- 
tions that ever shaped the results of a national political 
convention. The most decisive part of the proceedings be- 
gan at the Astor House 2 in New York city, where "Weed 
stopped on his way to Harrisburg to confer with other 
leading pilgrims on their mission to save the country. 
Among them were Ashmun and Jones, two of Webster's 
lieutenants, who were authorized by him "to support 
the candidate," as "Weed mellowly states, "most likely to 
strengthen the ticket." Harrison was of course agreed 
upon as that candidate. But it was found, before the con- 
vention opened, that a large plurality of the delegates 
favored Clay, and that he was apt to carry the convention. 
Then ensued more conferences and cogitations, by which 
more schemes were evolved. No serious difficulty was ex- 
perienced in uniting all the adverse interests upon Harrison. 



1 It should be remarked that as there had previously been no Whig 
national convention there was no regular organization formally to call 
one, and the movement for this oue was instituted by the "opposition 
members of Congress without distinction of party." — Giles's Register, vol. 
lvii. p. 47. 

2 " There was reserved for Mr. "Weed's exclusive use during these years 
of active political leadership a room in the Astor House, which he always 
occupied when called to the city. ' He retained room 11,' writes one who 
knew him well. ' Could that room but speak, what a story it might tell ! 
It was an audience chamber and council closet, where all sorts of persons 
went month after month, year after year. In it caucuses were held, cam- 
paigns arranged, Senators, members of the cabinet, Governors, Ministers, 
and even Presidents were made and unmade. For nearly a quarter of a 
century more political power and influence probably emanated from that 
little apartment than from any other source in the entire republic.'" — 
Barnes's Life of Weed, p. 237. 



426 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1839 

This clone, it was resolved to adopt the "unit rule," then 
originated — that the majority of each delegation should de- 
cide the full vote of its State. In conjunction with this, to 
prevent any contagious eloquence in Clay's behalf, it was 
determined that a committee of not more than three should 
be appointed from each delegation " to receive the views and 
opinions of such delegation and communicate the same to 
the assembled committee of all the delegations, to be by 
them respectively reported to their principals." Thereupon 
each delegation was to meet separately and ballot for can- 
didates, after which the committees were to assemble and 
compare results. This process was to be repeated until a 
majority vote was reached. In consequence, the real de- 
liberations of the convention were to be held by detach- 
ments outside of it. This crafty scheme assured success. 1 
The method was opposed in the convention, but Clay's par- 
tisans lacked his energy and persistence, and the resolution 
was adopted. The result of the first ballot was 103 for 
Clay, 94 for Harrison, and 57 for Scott. The influences to 
disintegrate Clay's strength were then brought to bear. 
Seven ballots were taken, Harrison gaining mainly by the 
transfer to him of Scott's previous votes. His nomination 
was certain, but, in the eager and imploring efforts to recon- 
cile Clay's angered and rebellious supporters, the last ballot 
was delayed twenty -four hours. The final ballot stood 
148 for Harrison, 90 for Clay, and 16 for Scott. Thus the 
result of twelve years of Whig uproar and exertions to 
preserve our imperiled institutions was to nominate the 
tertium quid, as Wise sarcastically called Harrison, and 
by methods more intriguing, unfair, and tyrannical than 

1 Benton's Thirty Years' View, vol. ii. p. 204. 



Cn. X.] THE CLAIMS OF PARTY FEALTY 427 

Jackson or the Albany Regency, so long and so vehe- 
mently denounced by the Whigs, had ever conceived. Even 
Greeley in after years piously apologized for the transaction 
as being the only means to nominate a candidate who could 
be elected and thus carry out the patriotic purpose of the 
party. 1 

In Harrison's nomination, however achieved, Clay's ad- 
herents were compelled to acquiesce. Treason to the party, 
under the conditions that existed, could not be contem- 
plated. But the dread of it and the provocation for it 
caused the victorious managers deep anxiety. As soon as 
the result of the last ballot was announced to the conven- 
tion one of the Kentucky delegation declared its concur- 
rence in Harrison's nomination. He was followed by an- 
other member, who spoke to the same effect, and asked that 
a letter from Clay, which had been for some days in the 
possession of a delegate, but which, to avoid the appearance 
of intent to excite sentiment for Clay, had not been shown, 
be read to the convention. Permission was given, and 
the letter was produced and read. In it Clay stated that 
should any other candidate be chosen he would cordially 
support him, and adjured his friends to be guided solely by 
the motive of uniting the party, that its success in the elec- 
tion might be attained. When he sent this letter he could 
not foresee the unprecedented means that were used against 
him ; hence it was feared by some that he would not con- 
sider himself bound by the pledge to support the ticket, 
and would remain fatally inactive throughout the canvass. 
But the letter was none the less hailed with exuberant ap- 
proval. Speeches in the most laudatory style were made 



1 Greeley's Recollections of a Busy Life, p. 131. 



428 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1839 

upon his character and devotion. " I envy Kentucky," ex- 
claimed one of the speakers, " for when he dies she will have 
his ashes !" Yet the sombre countenances of his discom- 
fited friends seemed to bode ill, and the gloom was deep- 
ened by the difficulty in finding a suitable man willing to 
accept the nomination for Vice-President. 

Long before the convention, Weed had offered to "Web- 
ster the support of the New York delegation for the place, 
if Harrison were nominated for President ; but Webster 
haughtily declined the proposition. Clay's friends were 
eagerly besought to make the selection, and four of them 
— Leigh, Clayton, Tallmadge, and Southard — successively 
refused to stand. At length, as the last resource, John 
Tyler was proposed. His political career and principles had 
been hybrid — partly Democratic and partly Whig. While 
Senator he had disapproved the removal of the deposits; 
and, refusing to vote for the expunging resolution in com- 
pliance with the instructions of the Virginia legislature, he 
had resigned his seat. By the aid of the Whigs, under Clay's 
advice, he was defeated in his attempt to be re-elected ; but 
he was promised, as the reward for his martyrdom, the 
nomination for Vice-President. At all events, he was one 
of Clay's most ardent supporters in the convention, and 
confessed, it was said, that he had wept at Clay's defeat. 1 
He was nominated. The convention neither formulated a 
platform nor adopted resolutions defining the programme 
of the party. This was left to the conjectures that each 
element of voters should deem most consistent with its 



1 " Mrs. Tyler says that she once remarked on this tale to her husband, 
and that he laughed heartily, and said that he wished that was the greatest 
of the falsehoods propagated concerning him." — Letters and Times of the 
Tylers, vol. i. p. 595. 



Cii. X.] CLAY'S BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT 429 

principles and desires. "Efforts were made," says Weed, 
"during the last hours of the convention to awaken some 
enthusiasm for the ticket. But the deep mortification of the 
friends of Mr. Clay rendered those efforts but partially suc- 
cessful. The delegates separated less sanguine than usual 
of a united and zealous effort to elect the ticket." So termi- 
nated this remarkable convention, the consequences of which 
are without parallel in our history. 1 

Clay was at Washington attending the first session of the 
Twenty-sixth Congress, which began December 2, when the 
result of the convention was made known to him. His 
feelings overcame all dignity and restraint. He strode back 
and forth in violent excitement and wrath, bitterly and 
profanely accusing his ill-fortune and the impotence of his 
friends. 2 But he was 

. . . . " the engineer 
Hoist with his own petar." 



1 The Democratic press was as outspoken as Clay's friends in regard to 
his defeat. Among other things the Democratic Review, of February, 1840, 
said : " We cannot dissemble an iudignant contempt — not less sincere that 
we have but few political sympathies in common — for the mean ingrati- 
tude which has thus so basely betrayed him in the last hours of his public 
life, to sacrifice him, his rights, and his fame to a cunning intrigue and 
to a cold calculation of party expediency, which we verily believe to have 
been as shallow and impolitic as it was heartless and false. In the words 
of Fouche, it was worse than a crime — it was a blunder." 

2 "Such an exhibition we never witnessed before, and w r e pray never 
again to witness such an ebullition of passion, such a storm of deprecations 
and curses. He rose from his chair, and, walking backwards and forwards 
rapidly, lifting his feet like a horse string-halted in both legs, stamped his 
steps upon the floor, exclaiming : 'My friends are not worth the powder and 
shot it would take to kill them.' He mentioned the names of several, in- 
voking upon them the most horrid imprecations, and then turning to us ap- 
proached rapidly with a violent gesture and in a loud voice said : 'If there 
were two Henry Clays one of them would make the other President of the 
United States.' Trying to bring him to his senses, we replied : 'If there were 
two Henry Clays the continent would not be large enough to hold them, and 



430 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1839 

Availability had carried the day. Clay had laboriously 
built up a conglomerate party, of many elements and inter- 
ests, and a various combination of policies, with but one pur- 
pose in common — the overthrow of the Democratic regime. 
The test of the candidates of such a coalition is always 
availability. He had recognized it by his own recent course 
as a trimmer ; and doubtless the poignant appreciation of 
his corresponding sacrifice of political character intensified 
his disgust. But his acute disappointment quickly subsided. 
He was soon absorbed in his customary functions in the 
Senate. He was still chief of the Whigs, and he maintained 
all his zeal for the success of the party. 1 



they would not leave a morsel of each other ; they would mutually destroy 
themselves. You were warned by Judge White of this result when it 
might have been prevented, but you would not take heed.' 'Ah! yes,' 
said he ; ' you and Judge White are like the old lady who knew the cow 
would eat up the grindstone. It is a diabolical intrigue. I now know 
which has betrayed me. I am the most unfortunate man in the history 
of parties ; always run by my friends when sure to be defeated, and 
now betrayed for a nomination when I or any one else would be sure 
of an election ' " — Wise's Seven Decades of Hie Union, p. 172. 

1 "After the adjournment of the Harrisburg convention many of the 
members went to Washington, where it was found that of these were one 
or more delegates from eighteen out of the twenty-two States, which had 
been represented in that patriotic and enlightened body. They called in 
a body upon Mr. Clay to do homage to the high moral principle which had 
influenced his conduct. The friends of Harrison and Scott, with those 
originally enlisted for Webster, were as ready to acknowledge the high 
claims of Clay to the proud distinction of their nomination as he and his 
friends had been to surrender those claims in favor of a candidate who 
was thought to be more available. The particulars of this touching 
ceremony, together with those of the great Whig dinner given on the 
same day, are detailed admirably in the National Intelligencer. " — Hone's 
Diary, vol. i. p. 399. 



CHAPTER XI 

The Financial and Political Situation — Organization of the House — The 
Independent Treasury Established — Other Proceedings of Congress — 
Slavery and International Law — The Democratic Convention — The 
Campaign of 1840 — Clay's Platform for the Whig Party — William H. 
Harrison and his Opinions — The Election — Harrison aud Clay and the 
Construction of the Cabinet — The Inaugural Address — The Clamor for 
the Spoils — Strained Relations Between Clay and Harrison — The Death 
of the President — John Tyler — The Close of the Jacksonian Epoch 

"With the partial recovery of the country from the effects 
of the crisis, the prospect of a "Whig victory diminished. 
About the time when Clay started on his tour, Yan Buren 
did likewise, visiting several places in Pennsylvania, New 
Jersey, and New York. His reception, especially in the 
city of New York, was most gratifying to him and encour- 
aged his belief that, by the time of the election in 1840, the 
factitious promise of a Whig triumph would disappear. 
Popular demonstrations of regard for public men, however, 
are rarely significant of political strength : there is com- 
monly in most places a sufficient number of the admiring 
and the curious to form an imposing crowd. But aside from 
the greeting Yan Buren received on his tour, there were 
other causes to make him sanguine. Business was reviving, 
and foreign commerce was rapidly regaining its normal vol- 
ume. The revenues, from customs duties and the public 
lands, were steadily approaching their former level. All 
signs of returning prosperity seemed propitious. In the 
fall of 1838 the results of the elections indicated a renewal 



432 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1839 

of confidence in the administration. But in October of the 
following year the promising aspect of the situation began 
to fade. England had experienced a relapse of the crisis, 
and the effects were quickly communicated to this country. 
The banks in Philadelphia, including the Philadelphia Bank 
of the United States, suspended, and their example was 
generally followed, save in New York and in New Eng- 
land, with some few exceptions. 1 The manifestations of 
distress were not so acute as before, but the general situ- 
ation was much the same. A paralyzing stupor fell upon 
trade and business, from which they w T ere slow to recover. 
Nevertheless, Van Buren, with laudable firmness, met Con- 
gress with his usual recommendations of sound finance, re- 
tracting nothing of his former policy. He was now strong 
enough in both houses of Congress to carry the great meas- 
ure of his administration. 

The legislative proceedings of the session were delayed 
two weeks by an acrimonious struggle over the organization 
of the House. There was a contest for the five New Jersey 
seats, the possession of which would be vital to either party, 
as they Avould determine the political control of the House. 
The formal credentials were held by the "Whigs. The Con- 
gressmen from that State w T ere voted for on a general ticket. 
The returns from two election districts were thrown out for 
alleged irregularities, although the Democrats insisted, just- 
ly in all probability, that this action was wrongful ; at all 



September 17, 1839, Senator Linn wrote from London: "Since my 
arrival, money affairs here have been in the worst possible condition — men 
looked into each other's faces with suspicion and turned with disgust from 
every proposition relating to American property and security, and the re- 
cent protest in Paris of a million and a half of drafts drawn by the Bank 
of the United States I fear will give the finishing blow to everything Amer- 
ican." — Life of Linn, p. 110 



Ch. XL] FORCING THE TREASURY BILL 433 

events, it decided the result of the election and engendered 
much excitement and asperity. On calling the roll the clerk 
declined to include either delegation or to put any motion 
whatever, even to adjourn. After four days of confusion 
and tumult John Quincy Adams was asked to suggest 
some mode of solving the difficulty. He did so in a very 
characteristic way. Briefly addressing the members, he 
proposed that the House proceed to organize itself; and 
when several members asked who would put the question 
he made the historic reply, " I will put the question myself." 
He was made chairman, and presided until the 16th, when 
K. M. T. Hunter, of Virginia, was elected Speaker by a 
union of the Whig members with Calhoun's friends, who 
were incensed at the refusal of some of the administration 
Democrats to vote for one of their number. Hunter was 
an Independent, but a States-rights man and supporter of 
the Sub-Treasury plan. Neither of the New Jersey delega- 
tions was allowed to vote. The contestants were finally 
seated. 

The proceedings of the session were heavily charged with 
politics. I'arty feeling was intense. Both sides labored 
to the utmost to gain every possible advantage for effect 
in the pending Presidential campaign. The chief struggle, 
which occurred over the independent Treasury bill, was 
waged with extreme energy and bitterness. The adminis- 
tration was determined to force the measure through, and 
the confidence of the Whigs in their success at the ensuing 
election gave them additional ground for denouncing the 
programme. The bill was early introduced in the Senate, 
and its progress hastened by every available means. Clay 
delivered the most conspicuous speech against it. None of 
his speeches so well exhibit his versatility as the series on 

28 



434 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1839 

this much - debated subject; but unfortunately they are 
better evidence of his skill as a debater, with a view to 
influencing public opinion, than they are of his wisdom 
and judgment on questions of national finance. While this 
speech contained no new arguments, those which he had 
urged before were stated in a form well adapted to the 
uses of campaign literature. Moreover, the degree of his 
zeal in support of Harrison was a matter of deep and gen- 
eral interest, which his speech amply satisfied. His descrip- 
tion of the financial condition of the country is so faithful 
and complete that it should be quoted. 

" The general government," said he, " is in debt, and its 
existing revenue is inadequate to meet its ordinary expendi- 
ture. The States are in debt, some of them largely in debt, 
insomuch that they have been compelled to resort to the 
ruinous expedient of contracting new loans to meet the in- 
terest on prior loans ; and the people are surrounded by diffi- 
culties, greatly embarrassed, and involved in debt. While 
this is, unfortunately, the general state of the country, the 
means of extinguishing this vast mass of debt are in constant 
diminution. Property is falling in value ; and all the great 
staples of the country are declining in price, and destined, I 
fear, to further decline. The banks are rapidly decreasing 
the amount of their circulation. About one -half of them, 
extending from New Jersey to the extreme Southwest, have 
suspended specie payments, presenting an image of a para- 
lytic, one moiety of whose body is stricken with palsy. The 
banks are without a head ; and instead of union, concert, 
and co-operation between them, we behold jealous} T , dis- 
trust, and enmity. We have no currency whatever possess- 
ing uniform value throughout the whole country. That 
which we have, consisting almost entirely of the issue of 



Ch. XL] THE TREASURY BILL BECOMES LAW 435 

banks, is in a state of the utmost disorder, insomuch that it 
varies, in comparison with the specie standard, from par to 
fifty per centum discount. Exchanges, too, are in the great- 
est possible confusion ; not merely between distant parts of 
the Union, >ut between cities and places in the same neigh- 
borhood ; that between our great commercial marts of New 
York and Philadelphia, within five or six hours of each 
other, vacillating between seven and ten per centum. The 
products of our agricultural industry are unable to find 
their way to market from the want of means in the hands 
of traders to purchase them, or for want of confidence in 
the stability of things ; many of our manufactories are 
stopped or stopping, especially in the important branch of 
woollens ; and a vast accumulation of their fabrics on hand, 
owing to the destruction of confidence and the wretched 
state of exchange between different sections of the Union." 
January 23 the bill was passed by the Senate, 24 to 18. 
In the House it encountered still more strenuous opposi- 
tion ; but, as there was now a majority for it, it was pushed 
with vigor. As Benton says : " The shortest road was taken 
to its passage ; and that was under the debate-killing press- 
ure of the previous question. That question was freely 
used, and amendment after amendment cut off, motion 
after motion stifled, speech after speech suppressed ; the 
bill carried from stage to stage by a sort of silent struggle 
chiefly interrupted by the repeated process of calling yeas 
and nays, until at last it reached the final vote — and was 
passed — by a majority not large, but clear — 124 to 107. 
This was the 30th of June, that is to sa} T , within twenty 
days of the end of a session of near eight months." The 
spirit of the opposition is shown by the ridiculous motion to 
amend the title of the bill so as to read, "An act to reduce 



436 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1840 

the value of property, the products of the farmer, and the 
wages of labor, to destroy the indebted portions of the com- 
munity, to place the Treasury of the nation in the hands of 
the President, and to enable the public money to be drawn 
from the public Treasury without appropriation made by 
law." This motion received eighty-seven votes. 

This was the only measure of general importance, other 
than the ordinary legislation, to become a law. A bank- 
ruptcy bill was passed by the Senate, but in the House it 
was laid on the table. The principal objections to it were 
those urged by Clay — to compulsory proceedings against 
individuals and to making the bill applicable to banks and 
other corporations. But the bankruptcy throughout the 
country was not confined to corporations or persons. The 
most striking examples of it were furnished by many of the 
States, which had incurred vast debts, largely abroad, for 
the prosecution of unremunerative public works. At least 
thirteen States were thus virtually bankrupt. Some of them 
even repudiated their obligations, to the serious injury of 
American credit and the American character. 1 An effort 
was made, originating in London, to induce the government 
to assume the State debts. Benton offered a series of reso- 
lutions denouncing the scheme as unconstitutional and un- 
wise. Crittenden proposed an amendment, asserting that 
it would be just and proper to distribute among the States 

1 " It is impossible to conceive anything more painful and mortifying 
to one, cither by birth or adoption an American, than the contemptuous and 
reproachful comments which any mention of the United States is sure to 
elicit. The commercial and financial delinquencies of some of the States, but 
principally of Pennsylvania, have created a universal impression through- 
out Europe of utter want of faith, honor,- and integrity on the part of the 
whole nation." — Mrs. Butler's (Fanny Kemble) Tear of Consolation, vol. i. 
p. 37. See, also, Democratic Revieic, vol. xi. p. 212 ; ibid. vol. xiv. p. 1 ; 
Life of Clay (anonymous), vol. i. p. 182 ; Be Tocgueville, vol. i. p. 165. 



Ch. XL] CLAY'S BELLICOSE TENDENCIES 437 

the proceeds of the sales of the public lands to aid them 
in paying their debts. As this was the favorite feature of 
Clay's programme he supported it ; but it was defeated, 
and Benton's resolutions were adopted. 

The Committee on Foreign Relations made a temperate 
and pacific report in regard to the difficulty with England 
over the northeastern boundary. Clay concurred in the re- 
port, but contended that if the two governments should, 
through the ordinary course of diplomacy, be unable to 
agree, the question could be submitted to arbitration under 
a provision in the treaty of Ghent. Should these means 
fail to settle the dispute, he scouted any dread of the re- 
sult of war. Yan Buren favored any expedient rather 
than force. This attitude made him unpopular in Maine 
in the same manner as his firm stand for neutrality dur- 
ing the Canadian rebellion injured him in the northwest- 
ern counties of New York. This was doubtless the mo- 
tive for Clay's bellicose encomium on our power and our 
prowess. 

On presenting an abolition petition Clay reasserted the 
right of petition, but took occasion to remark that he 
thought the crisis of the agitation was passed, and also to 
express the gratification he had derived from the perusal 
of some valuable works from Northern pens on the subject 
of abolition. He mentioned several such works, and ap- 
proved the argument presented by one of them, that "two 
communities of distinct races cannot live together without 
the one becoming more or less in subjection to the other." 
The tenor of his remarks shows that his real opinions on the 
slavery question had undergone no change, and that his re- 
spect for the right of petition had not abated. And his in- 
stinctive sentiment against slavery was manifested not long 



438 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1840 

afterward in connection with some resolutions that Calhoun 
had introduced. 

In 1830 the American coasting schooner Comet was 
wrecked on one of the Bahamas. A number of slaves on 
board who were being transported from the District of 
Columbia to New Orleans, were freed by the local author- 
ities. Four j^ears later the Encomium was wrecked near 
the same place, and the slaves she carried were treated in 
a similar manner. In 1835 the brig Enterprise was driven 
by storm into Port Hamilton, Bermuda, and the slaves on 
board of her were likewise liberated. 1 In all these cases 
the owners of the slaves besought our government to pro- 
cure redress. After protracted negotiations the British 
government paid the value of the slaves taken in the two 
first cases, but absolutely refused to make compensation 
in the last — for the reason that it had taken place, unlike 
the previous ones, after the abolition of slavery in the 
British West Indies. Calhoun made the matter the subject 
of resolutions applying to slave property the ordinary law 
of nations protecting vessels with persons and property 
on board, when lawfully engaged, but forced by stress of 
weather into ports of friendly powers ; and therefore de- 
claring 1 that the act of the local authorities of Port Hamilton 
in freeing the negroes on the Enterprise was in violation of 
international law. He argued at length in support of his 
proposition, which was denied by nations that did not rec- 
ognize slavery. No Senator voted against the resolutions, 
although but thirty-three of the fifty-two Senators voted. 
Clay voted for them, but emphatically disapproved the in- 
troduction of them on the ground that negotiations concern- 



1 Niles's Register, vol. xlviii. p. 44. 



Ch. XL] THE FEUD BETWEEN CLAY AND CALHOUN 439 

ing the subject were closed by language so decisive as to 
preclude expectation that they would be resumed, and that 
the resolutions were without practical utility. " I think," 
he added, " a too frequent use of the expression of opinions 
on subjects merely abstract by a body of such high and 
grave authority as the Senate will have a tendency to bring 
our opinions into disrepute." Calhoun replied, and Clay, in 
rejoining, made the grounds of his objection more explicit 
and more significant of his dislike to the assertions of inter- 
national law in behalf of slavery. 

The standing feud between Calhoun and Clay was vigor- 
ously displayed again in course of the discussion of a land 
bill which Calhoun had introduced, similar to the one he 
had urged two years before. What led to the renewal of 
the personal debate was Clay's inquiry whether the admin- 
istration favored the bill. " The inquiry," said he, " I should 
not make if the recent relations between the Senator who 
introduced the bill and the head of that administration con- 
tinued to exist ; but rumors, of which the city, the cercles, 
and the press are full, assert that those relations are entirely 
changed and have within a few days been substituted by 
others of an intimate, friendly, and confidential nature." 
Calhoun pronounced the inquiry indecorous and his personal 
relations with the President none of Clay's concern. "But," 
said he, " the Senator assumes that a change in my personal 
relations involves a change of political position ; and it is on 
that he founds his right to make the inquiry. lie judges, 
doubtless, by his own experience ; but I would have him to 
understand that what may be true in his case on a memor- 
able occasion is not true in mine. His political course may 
be governed by personal considerations ; but mine, I trust, is 
governed strictly by my principles, and is not at all un- 



440 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1840 

cler the control of my attachments or enmities." Clay in- 
sisted that the public was entitled to know whether the bill 
was an administration measure. " Is it," he asked, " of no 
importance to the public to learn that these pledges and 
compromises have been entered into? — that the distin- 
guished Senator has made his bow in court, kissed the hand 
of the monarch, was taken into favor, and agreed henceforth 
to support his edicts ?" Calhoun then recurred to the coali- 
tion scandal of 1824, and reasserted his own independence 
and consistency. Clay repeated the details of his justifica- 
tion for supporting Adams, and referred to Calhoun's com- 
pliant part in the Compromise of 1833. " But for that Com- 
promise," he added, " I am not at all confident that I would 
now have the honor to meet that Senator face to face in this 
national capital." This allusion to Jackson's threat to prose- 
cute Calhoun for treason brought him to his feet again. 

"As the Senator," said he, " has thought proper to refer to 
it [the Compromise] and claim my gratitude, I in turn now 
tell him that I feel not the least gratitude towards him for it. 
The measure was necessary to save the Senator politically ; 
and as he has alluded to the subject, both on this and on a 
former occasion, I feel bound to explain what might other- 
wise have been left in oblivion. The Senator was then com- 
pelled to compromise to save himself. Events had placed 
him flat on his back, and he had no way to recover himself 
but by the Compromise. This is no after-thought. I wrote 
more than half a dozen letters home at the time to that 
effect." He then went on to explain that Jackson's course 
had rallied around him the friends of protection ; that Clay 
was thus left in a hopeless condition, and that "Webster 
" would have reaped all the political honors and advantages 
of the system had the contest come to blows." For these 



Ch. XL] CLAY REPLIES TO CALHOUN 441 

reasons, he asserted, Clay was obliged to compromise as 
his " only means of extrication." " I had the mastery over 
him on that occasion. I have never taken any credit for 
my agency in the Compromise act. I claim a higher — that 
of compelling the Compromise ; and I would have dictated 
my terms . . . had not circumstances not proper to explain 
here prevented it. ... I never contemplated a sudden re- 
duction of duties. I never desired to destroy the manufact- 
ures, and at no time contemplated a full reduction under six 
or seven years." 

" The Senator from South Carolina," replied Clay, with 
indignant emphasis, " said that I was flat on m}' back and 
that he was my master. Sir, I would not own him as my 
slave. He my master ! and I compelled by him ! And as if 
it were impossible to go far enough in one paragraph, he 
refers to certain letters of his own to prove that I was flat 
on my back ! and that I was not only on my back, but 
another Senator and the President had robbed me ! I was 
flat on my back and unable to do anything but what the 
Senator from South Carolina permitted me to do ! "Why, sir, 
I gloried in my strength, and was compelled to introduce the 
Compromise bill, and was compelled, too, by the Senator, 
not in consequence of the weakness, but of the strength of 
my position. If it were possible for the Senator from South 
Carolina to introduce one paragraph without showing the 
egotism of his character, he would not now acknowledge 
that he wrote letters home to show that I was flat on my 
back, while he Avas indebted to me for the measure which 
relieved him from the difficulties in which he was involved." 

He then gave his version of the case, asserting that he 
produced and carried through the Compromise notwith- 
standing Webster's unceasing opposition ; that he was in- 



442 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1840 

fluenced by no personal considerations, but was actuated 
by the motive of pacifying the country and preventing the 
effusion of blood. " There was," he continued, " another 
reason that powerfully operated on me. ... I saw that 
the protective system was in danger of being swept away 
entirely, and probably at the next session of Congress, by 
the tremendous power of the individual who then filled the 
Executive chair; and I felt that the greatest service that 
I could render it would be to obtain for it ' a lease for a 
term of years,' to use an expression that has heretofore 
been applied to the Compromise bill." ' 

However interesting these explanations of the Compro- 
mise may be, they were but a brief interlude to the ardent 
attention devoted to the existing political situation. The 
Presidential campaign began as soon as the Whig conven- 
tion adjourned, and was carried on with increasing energy 
until the day of election. Exciting as some of the previous 
campaigns had been, there has never been one that could 
compare with this. In the methods employed it was a new 
departure. The dexterity of the Whig managers in pro- 
curing Harrison's nomination was fully equalled by the 
novel skill employed in arousing popular sentiment in his 
support. There was no necessity to await the formal action 
of the Democratic party, for it was well understood that 
Yan Buren would be renominated, as he was in several 
States and by the Democratic national convention at Balti- 
more May 5. The nomination for Vice-President was left 
to the party organizations in the States, most of which 
renominated Johnson. The convention did not imitate the 



1 Even Jolm Tyler, in an address delivered in March, 1855, gave Clay 
the credit of the Compromise. — Letters and Times of the Tylers, vol. i. 
pp. 601-2. 



Ch.XL] THE POLICY OF STRICT CONSTRUCTION 443 

non-committal policy of the "Whig convention, but adopted 
a clearly worded and explicit platform, asserting the car- 
dinal tenets of the party. It declared for strict construc- 
tion of the Constitution, and therefore against the power 
to carry on a general system of internal improvements, 
fostering one branch of industry to the detriment of an- 
other, chartering a national bank, interfering with slavery 
and the abolition movement in all its objects ; for economy 
in every department of the government, and the raising of 
only sufficient revenue for administrative purposes, and the 
granting of liberal privileges to foreigners becoming citizens 
and acquiring lands. This was supplemented by an address 
repeating more fully these principles, denouncing the aboli- 
tionists, whose fanatical zeal was imputed to the instigation 
of the Whigs, defending Yan Buren's administration, assert- 
ing that Harrison was a Federalist and that his military 
glory was doubtful, and criticising the pageantry of the 
Whig campaign as addressed merely to the senses. The 
convention, however, was gloomy, for the prospect of suc- 
cess was dubious. Already the country was stirred with 
the commotion created by the exertions and enthusiasm of 
the Whigs. 

Public meetings and political harangues were by no means 
a novelty in Presidential canvasses, but the extent to which 
they were now employed far surpassed that of all previous 
campaigns. The speeches were generally made in the open 
air before vast concourses of people. 1 In some cases these 



1 " The people rose almost en masse. The whole country was divided, 
as if in civil war, in hostile factions. Banners flouted the sky; the people 
met in armies ; the pursuits of business were neglected for the strife and 
strivings of political canvassing; and an excitement careered over the laud, 
which in any other country would have drenched it in blood and upheaved 
the government from its foundation stones. At Nashville a multitude 



444 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1840 

gatherings were so large that the places they occupied were 
surveyed and measured to determine the number of acres 
of people that attended. Clay and Webster, as well as the 
less conspicuous Whig leaders, joined with unprecedented 
fervor in this party service. Nor did they wait until Con- 
gress adjourned, but began their operations early in the 
session. Clay spoke in Baltimore, May 4, before an im- 
mense crowd — twenty thousand, he estimated — drawn to- 
gether by a national convention of young men. He de- 
clared himself unreservedly for Harrison and buoyantly 
predicted an overwhelming victory. " This," he exclaimed, 
" is no time to argue ; the time for argument has passed ; 
the nation has already pronounced its sentence." ' Yet he 
did argue on many occasions and in several States. His 
principal speech was delivered in his native county in Vir- 
ginia, June 27, and became one of the text -books of the 
campaign. 

He began by asserting his earnest support of Harrison 
and gracefully referring to his visit to the county of his na- 
tivity. " Why," he then asked, " is the plough deserted, the 



which no man might number, composed of the old enemies of Clay, hung 
upon his accents, and as he denounced the principles and measures of Jack- 
sonism, rent the air with thunder-shouts of applause which invaded even 
the peace of the Hermitage." — Baldwin's Party Leaders, p. 344. 

1 "The convention itself consisted of thousands; an immense, unwieldj^ 
mass of political machinery to accomplish nothing — to form a procession 
polluted by a foul and unpunished murder of one of their own marshals, 
and by the loss of several other lives. I am assured that the number of 
delegates in attendance from the single State of Massachusetts was not less 
than twelve hundred. And in the midst of this throng Henry Clay, Daniel 
Webster, William C. Preston, Senators of the United States, and four 
times the number of members of the House of Representatives have been 
two days straining their lungs and cracking their voices to fill this multi- 
tude with wind}' sound for the glorification of William Henry Harrison 
and the vituperation of Martin Van Buien." — Adams's Diary, vol. x. 
p. 282. 



Ch. XL] CLAY AND THE EXECUTIVE POWER 445 

tools of the mechanic laid aside, and all are seen rushing to 
gatherings of the people ? What occasions those vast and 
universal assemblages which we behold in every State and 
in almost every neighborhood? Why those conventions of 
the people at a common centre, from all extremities of this 
vast Union, to consult together upon the sufferings of the 
community and to deliberate upon the means of deliverance? 
Why this rabid appetite for public discussion ? What is the 
solution of the phenomenon which we observe of a great 
nation agitated upon its whole surface and to its lowest 
depths, like the ocean when convulsed by some terrible 
storm ? There must be a cause, and no ordinary cause." 
This led him to his accustomed theme of "the encroach- 
ments and usurpations of the Executive branch of the gov- 
ernment — subordination of the entire official corps, from 
the highest to the lowest, to the will of the President; 
political proscription and abuse of the power of dismissal ; 
seizure of the Treasury ; all tending, if not designed, to con- 
centrate the powers of the government in the hands of 
the Executive. He excepted the array and navy from this 
influence, but asserted, as evidence of design to bring the 
military into partisan subjection, that two officers of the 
army had been court-martialed for purchasing supplies from 
Whigs instead of Democrats; and he assailed, as further 
proof of a sinister purpose, a recent recommendation of the 
Secretary of War to increase the militia to two hundred 
thousand. He ridiculed and combated the charge that the 
Whigs were really Federalists. 1 



1 That the Whig principles were substantially those of the former 
Federal party was early and candidly admitted by John Quincy Adams in 
a letter to Clay, April 21, 1829. "The objection," he wrote, " there ap- 
pears to me to be against applying the denomination of Federalists to 



446 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1840 

The necessity he proclaimed for a change of administra- 
tion implied the adoption of positive and corrective meas- 
ures ; and he did not hesitate, unlike the Whig convention, 
to assert his own programme, though he was careful to 
speak only for himself. Under the circumstances he could 
not do otherwise ; but he doubtless spoke with much as- 
surance that his views would be decisive. He proposed 
that no person should be eligible to the Presidency after 
serving one term ; that " the veto power should be more 
precisely defined and be subjected to further limitations 
and qualifications" — particularly, that provision should be 
made for bills passed within ten days of the close of a ses- 
sion of Congress, to prevent " pocket vetoes," and that a 
majority of all the members of each house should override 
a positive veto ; that " the power of dismission from office 
should be restricted and the exercise of it rendered respon- 
sible " — particularly in cases of the removal of officials ap- 
pointed with the concurrence of the Senate, and that in 
such cases where removals should be necessary the reasons 
should be fully communicated ; that " the control over the 
Treasury should be confided and confined exclusively to 
Congress, and all authority of the President over it, by 
means of dismissing the Secretary of the Treasury or other 
persons having the immediate charge of it, be vigorously 
precluded " ; and that " the appointment of members of 
Congress to any office, or any but a few specific offices, dur- 
ing their continuance in office and for one year thereafter, 
should be prohibited." These propositions, it will be ob- 
served, were suggested by his contests with Jackson and Yan 



the opposcrs of protection to manufactures and internal improvements 
is that I believe the fact to be otherwise. The old Federalists were gen- 
evaUy friendly to those interests. Washington w T as pre-eminently so." 



Ch. XL] AN EXPOSITION OF WHIG DOCTRINES 447 

Buren. None of them have ever been adopted. He inti- 
mated the opinion that the establishment of a national bank 
was necessary to the creation of a sound currency; but 
he was careful not to pledge himself to that policy. The 
public lands he would treat as provided for in the bill that 
Jackson rejected. The protective system should " be adhered 
to and maintained on the basis of the principles and in the 
spirit of the Compromise." " A pruning-knife, long, broad, 
and sharp, should be applied to every department of the 
government." The States having made so much progress 
in their systems of internal improvement, and having been 
so much aided by the distribution under the deposit act, 
they should receive no further assistance from the govern- 
ment, except the payment of the last instalment under that 
act, the absolute relinquishment to them of the previous in- 
stalments, and the proceeds of the sales of the public lands, 
as prescribed in his bill. " The right to slave property, be- 
ing guaranteed by the Constitution and recognized as one of 
the compromises incorporated into that instrument by our 
ancestors, should be left where the Constitution had placed it, 
undisturbed and unagitated." This speech was the most au- 
thoritative exposition of the Whig creed, and may be taken as 
the type of the innumerable Whig speeches of the campaign. 
The most powerful aid to the Whig ticket was the condi- 
tion of the country resulting from the financial crisis. No 
argument was necessary to make that plain, and that, in 
itself, was enough to convince a large portion of the people 
that the government was at fault. 1 Want and logic seldom 



1 "Hundreds and thousands of persons, destitute of employment and 
almost destitute of bread, found relief in swelling the Harrison processions 
and gatherings, in singing patriotic songs, and shouting for reform." — 
Goodrich's Recollections, vol. ii. p. 350. 



448 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1840 

consort. It is not supposable that at such a time the mass 
of the people reasoned much whether there should be a na- 
tional bank or an independent Treasury, or what was the 
best system upon which to deal with the public lands. 
Multitudes, moved by destitution and encouraged by clamor, 
naturally believed that a change of administration would be 
beneficial. " They feel," said Clay, " the absolute necessity 
for a change, that no change can render their condition 
worse, and that any change must better it. This is the 
judgment to which they have come ; this is the brief and 
compendious logic which we daily hear." And this im- 
pulse was urged on by all the arts of stump declamation. 
The argument of most weight in the popular mind was that 
the administrations of Jackson and Van Buren were char- 
acterized by prodigal and profligate extravagance and waste 
of the public funds. It was in this that the highly spec- 
tacular feature of the campaign had its impetus. 

The charge was more than specious. The new political 
temper displayed after Jackson's election, begetting an in- 
ordinate desire for office, which was furthered by the spoils 
system, led insidiously to the creation of new places to be 
filled, new expenditures to be made, and the concoction of 
innumerable schemes to plunder the government by indi- 
rection. In times of great political activity and excitement 
the public eye is too little directed to the minor means that 
ingenious and unscrupulous men employ to filch the public 
funds. During the Revolution these plunderers enriched 
themselves through the woes of the country. Similar opera- 
tions prevailed during the War of 1812 and the Rebellion. 
During the Jacksonian period, after the national debt wag 
paid, there set in a spirit of laxity that increased and spread 
until the results became scandalous. Wherever the public 



Ch. XL] AN ERA OF PECULATION 449 

moneys presented temptation they were in danger. After 
the method was instituted of keeping and disbursing the 
revenues through the medium of the officials instead of the 
banks, defalcations and peculations became so common that 
only the more flagrant cases attracted attention. 1 Swart- 
wout, collector of customs at the port of New York, was a 
defaulter to the extent of nearly $1,250,000/ and the United 
States district-attorney at the same place, $72,000. Many 
of the land officers were guilty in lesser degrees. 3 The 



1 "Defalcations are no crime. Mr. Van Buren in his message pro- 
poses to make defalcations of public money felony and punishable in the 
state-prison. Nonsense ! Neither party will agree to such an absurdity ! 
Never !"— New York llerald, December 10, 1838. 

2 " Swartwout's appointment was opposed by the leading friends of 
General Jackson and Mr. Van Buren in New York. Mr. Van Buren op- 
posed it most earnestly." "This man [Hoyt] was a pet of Van Bureu's. 
I have understood he was a grocer, and became bankrupt. He was after- 
ward appointed by Van Buren collector of the port of New York. He 
certainly then purloined a large amount of the public money." — Rem- 
iniscences of J. A. Hamilton, pp. 125, 126. Swartwout wrote to Hoyt, 
March 14, 1829 : " Your very beautiful and entirely interesting letter of 
the 8th was received in due course. I hold to your doctrine fully, that 

no d d rascal who made use of his office for the purpose of keeping Mi*. 

Adams in and General Jackson out of power is entitled to the least lenity 
or mercy, save that of hanging. So we think both alike on that head. 
Whether or not I shall get anything in the general scramble for plunder 
remains to be proven ; but I rather guess I shall." 

3 " Out of sixty-six receivers of public money in the new States, sixty- 
two were discovered to be defaulters ; and the agent sent to look into the 
affairs of the peccant office-holder in the Southwest reported him minus 
some tens of thousands, but advised the government to retain him for a 
reason one of iEsop's fables illustrates — the agent ingeniously surmising 
that the appointee succeeding would do his stealing without any regard to 
the proficiency already made by his predecessor ; while the present incum- 
bent would probably consider, in mercy to the Treasury, that he had done 
something of the pious duty of providing for his household." — Baldwin's 
Flush Times of Alabama and Mississippi, p. 85. "A list of some of the 
most prominent of the defalcations exhibits that this sad condition of 
things was not sectional or local, and had increased lamentably within a 
brief period. The public Treasury had been plundered of about twenty 
millions of dollars within a few years." — Memoirs of J. O. Bennett, p. 257. 
29 



450 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1840 

government was more or less blamable for inattention; 
yet something should be allowed for inexperience with the 
system which had so recently come into existence. 

A still greater loss to the Treasury came through extrava- 
gant appropriations, fraudulent contracts, and the like, for 
which Congress, without regard to party, was more respon- 
sible than the administration. The details of this source of 
waste were not known during the campaign ; it was only 
after subsequent investigation that they were ascertained. 
Still, the idea was abroad. The total expenses of the gov- 
ernment had rapidly increased, and this furnished abundant 
ground for denunciation. During the last session some in- 
quiries were started in Congress which resulted in showing 
that Van Ruren's life in the White House was conducted 
in an elegant style. Speeches were made in the House, in 
which his mode of living was graphically contrasted with 
the simpler manner of his predecessors ; and these speeches 
were profusely circulated as campaign documents, with tell- 
ing effect. It was said that golden goblets and spoons, gilt 
candelabra, silver plate, knives and forks, costly china and 
fine linen, satin chairs and damask sofas, carriages and ser- 
vants were his portion, while the masses toiled and suffered 
to pay for them. He was charged with being an aristocrat 
and a monarchist, and thus unworthy of support by true 
Americans. 

Early in the campaign a Kichmond newspaper observed 
derisively of Harrison : " Give him a barrel of hard cider 
and a pension of two thousand dollars, and our word for it 
he will sit the remainder of his days contented in a log- 
cabin." It was an unfortunate remark ; for it was at once 
taken up by the Whig journals and speakers, and prompted 
the spectacular features of the extraordinary canvass that 



Ch. XL] HARRISON'S CAREER 451 

followed. 1 Log-cabins and hard cider became the symbols 
of a popular crusade and an irresistible argument against 
the extravagance of the government and the alleged con- 
tempt of the administration for the people. And there 
was enough truth in the idea of Harrison they represented 
to give them more than merely picturesque effect. 

Harrison was nearly sixty-eight, poor, plain, and unassum- 
ing. 2 But his descent and career were highly honorable. He 
was the son of a distinguished citizen of Virginia, who was 
repeatedly Speaker of the colonial Congress, and a signer of 
the Declaration of Independence. At the age of nineteen, 
while a medical student, he left his studies, and was com- 
missioned as an ensign in the arduous Indian war during 
Washington's administration. He served with gallantry, 
and retired in 1797, with the rank of captain, to take the 
appointment of secretary of the Northwest Territory. A 
year later he became a delegate in Congress. Soon after- 



1 "In an evil hour the Locofocos taunted the Harrison men with hav- 
ing selected a candidate who lived in a log-cabin and drank hard cider, 
which the Whigs, with more adroitness than they usually display, appro- 
priated to their own use, and now on all their banners and transparencies 
the Temple of Liberty is transformed into a hovel of unhewn logs ; the 
military garb of the general, into the frock and shirt-sleeves of a laboring 
farmer. The American eagle has taken his flight, which is supplied by a 
cider barrel, and the long-established emblem of the ship has given place 
to the plough." — Hone's Diary, vol. ii. p. 22. 

2 In April, 1840, Horace Mann visited Harrison, and in a letter gave a 
minute description of his rustic abode and simple habits of life. "The 
house was a building with two wings. Part of the central building was 
veritable logs, though now covered externally by clapboards and within 
by wainscoting. Tliis covering and these wings have been added siuce 
the log nucleus was rolled together. The furniture of the parlor could 
not have drawn very largely upon any one's resources. The walls were 
ornamented with a few portraits, some in frames, some disembodied from 
a frame. The drawing-room was fitted up more in modern style ; but the 
whole furniture and ornaments in these rooms might have cost two hun- 
dred or two hundred and fifty dollars." — Life of Horace Mann, p. 127. 



452 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1840 

ward the Territory was divided, and of that part of it made 
to constitute the Territory of Indiana he was appointed 
Governor, serving thirteen years with honesty and ability. 
In the Indian war with Tecumseh he commanded at the 
successful battle of Tippecanoe. In 1812, at the desire of the 
soldiers, he was made major-general of the Kentucky mili- 
tia, and had performed some service when he was appoint- 
ed commander of the Northwestern army. Pie conducted 
the operations that resulted in the victory of the Thames. 
While none of his military achievements were of much 
magnitude, they were all successful and brought peace 
throughout a wide region. From 1816 to 1819 he served 
in the House of Representatives, and from 1825 to 1828 in 
the Senate, from Ohio. In 1828 he was appointed Minister 
to Colombia, but in the following year he was removed by 
President Jackson, because he defended Clay against the 
charge of bargain and corruption. Returning to Ohio, he 
had recourse to farming for a livelihood, which was aided 
by his acting as the clerk of a court. 1 

Like all other men who have served the public for any 
considerable length of time, he had not escaped censure 



1 " I met with one incident in Cincinnati which' I shall long remember. 
I had observed at the hotel table a man of about medium height, stout 
and muscular, and of about the age of sixty years, yet with the active 
step and lively air of youth. I had been struck with his open and cheer- 
ful expression, the amenity of his manners, and a certain air of command 
which appeared through his plain dress. ' That is,' said my friend, ' General 
Harrison, clerk of the Cincinnati court of common pleas. . . . He is now 
poor, with a numerous family, neglected by the federal government, 
although yet vigorous, because he has the independence to think for him- 
self. As the opposition is in the majority here, his friends have bethought 
themselves to come to his relief by removing the clerk of the court of com- 
mon pleas, who was a Jackson man, and giving him the place, which is 
a lucrative one, as a sort of retiring pension.'" — Chevalier's Society in the 
United States, p. 196. 



Ch. XL] HARRISON'S RELATIONS TO CLAY 453 

and abuse; but there was nothing in his career to justify 
severe criticism. His humble circumstances were good evi- 
dence of his honesty ; and his inferior position was equal- 
ly good evidence that, with the opportunities he had had, 
he possessed little talent for political advancement and in- 
fluence. He understood perfectly that his nomination was 
made solely because of his availability; but naturally he 
was not unwilling to profit by it. He acknowledged his 
situation very frankly to Clay, to whom he wrote several 
months before the convention. " I can only say that my 
position in relation to yourself is to me very distressing 
and embarrassing. How little can we be judge of our 
future destinies ! A few years ago I would not have be- 
lieved in the possibility of my being placed in a position 
of apparent rivalry to you, particularly in relation to the 
Presidencj 7 , an office which I have never dreamed of at- 
taining, and which I ardently desired to see you occupy. 
I confess that I did covet the second, but never the first 
office in the gift of my fellow-citizens. Fate, as Bonaparte 
would say, has placed me where I am, and I await the 
result which time will determine." Certainly he had no 
political record to warrant his elevation. His opinions on 
the questions which had agitated Congress during the last 
twelve years were quite unknown to the people. His can- 
didacy in 1836 had, under the circumstances, attracted no 
especial attention to his political convictions, though the 
fact that he ran in that year as a Whig candidate no doubt 
created a presumption as to his position. After his nomi- 
nation the subject necessarily arose; not only was he per- 
sonally belittled and lampooned, but he was accused of 
being a Federalist and an abolitionist. The truth was that 
his official career had small political significance and no ma- 



454 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1840 

terial bearing on his present situation. That he had been 
removed from office by Jackson for favoring Clay was the 
most prominent political fact that appeared. 

But he was not slow to express himself. He began by let- 
ters, which for the most part were high-sounding generali- 
ties, avoiding so far as practicable the expression of his views 
on particular questions. It was well enough for him to say 
that the President should not be devoted to his party rather 
than to the whole country, that he should commit no usur- 
pations or abuse of power, that he should not resort freely 
to the veto, and that proscription on account of party should 
not prevail ; the real difficulty is in the application of these 
excellent principles. A President is easily convinced that 
his party is the true exponent of what is best for the coun- 
try and that only its members should be intrusted with the 
execution of its policy. In his speeches, for he made sev- 
eral, Harrison became somewhat more explicit as the press- 
ure increased. He admitted in complimentary terms the 
superior attainments and claims to preferment of Clay and 
"Webster, and thus indirectly sanctioned their views of pub- 
lic policy and courted their co-operation. He declared him- 
self distinctly in favor of only a single term for the Presi- 
dent, and pledged himself not to stand for another if elected. 
In 1822 he maintained that a national bank was absolute- 
ly unconstitutional ; in 1836 he had overcome his scruples 
sufficiently to say that he would consent to approve a bill 
to charter a bank if the collection and disbursement of the 
revenue would suffer without one; but he now intimated, 
although he professed that his Constitutional views were un- 
changed, that such a result would follow without a bank, 
and that the popular will, if clearly expressed, in favor of 
a bank should not be resisted. " Methinks," said he, on one 



Ch. XL] HARRISON AND THE SLAVERY QUESTION 455 

occasion, " I hear a soft voice asking, ' Are you in favor 
of paper money V I am." He favored protection, but ac- 
cepted the Compromise as inviolate. He denied the charge 
that he was an abolitionist, declared that slavery should 
not be abolished in the District without the consent of Vir- 
ginia and Maryland, and that while the right of petition 
should be observed, the antislavery agitation was not sanc- 
tioned by the Constitution. He did not dwell on the sub- 
ject, but it cannot justly be said that he veiled his opinions 
concerning it. In the latter part of his Governorship of the 
Indiana Territory he incurred unpopularity for a time by 
opposing the abolition of slavery there; and his votes in the 
House on the Missouri bill were against the restriction of 
slaveiy. But notwithstanding this record and his avowed 
sentiments, he did not repel the Whigs who favored the 
abolition movement ; for the character of the campaign 
made the slavery question a minor consideration. 1 Though 
little was said as to Anti-masonry, Harrison was acceptable 
to its adherents, and this was a secret but powerful element 
in his support in several States. 

It was soon evident that Yan Buren would be defeated. 
However motley the array that effected Harrison's nom- 
ination, the supporters of his election were still more va- 
ried, as they included large numbers who had never before 
acted with the Whig party. Whatever their political prin- 
ciples, and however they may have differed from those 
which Clay had so long advocated, hostility to the admin- 
istration was the sufficient motive for supporting Harrison. 

1 " In spite of General Harrison's trimming on the subject of slavery, 
and the evidence of his consistent hostility to the abolition movement, his 
candidacy carried off their feet an alarming number of Whig abolitionists, 
while the Third Party had captured another class." — Life of Garrison, vol. 
ii. p. 414. 



456 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1840 

Log-cabins, decked in frontier style with coon-skins, bunches 
of corn, strings of peppers and dried apples, and the like, 1 
were built in the cities and villages. Inside these cabins 
copious supplies of cider were on tap to be drunk from 
gourds; on the outside crowds assembled to absorb still 
more copious and inflaming harangues. 2 Huge processions, 
music, campaign songs, cartoons, banners with such legends 
as " Matty's policy, fifty cents a day and French soup ; our 
policy, two dollars a day and roast beef," were now first 
introduced as a prominent feature of Presidential cam- 
paigns. Besides this, all the devices that could be resorted 
to were used to swell the Harrison enthusiasm and recruit 
the ranks of his followers. 3 Benton, indulging in his usual 
frenzy against the influence of banks, asserts that they 

1 A broom at the door represeuted the " clean sweep " that Harrison was 
to make. And it was not forgotten that he had told his old soldiers that 
they would never find his latch -string pulled in. — Life of Seward, vol. i. 
p. 490. 

2 Julian's Political Recollections, pp. 10, 16. 

3 "Tippecanoe song-books were sold by the hundred thousand. There 
were Tippecanoe medals, Tippecanoe badges, Tippecanoe flags, Tippe- 
canoe handkerchiefs, Tippecanoe almanacs, and Tippecanoe shaving-soap. 
All other interests were swallowed up in the one interest of the election. 
All noises were drowned in the cry of 'Tippecanoe and Tyler too.' The 
man who contributed most to keep alive and increase the popular enthusi- 
asm, the man who did most to feed that enthusiasm with the substantial 
fuel of fact and argument was, beyond all question, Horace Greeley. 
On the 2d of May the first number of The Log-Cabin appeared, by 'II. 
Greeley & Co.,' a weekly paper to be published simultaneously at New 
York and Albany, at fifty cents for the campaign of six months. It was 
a small paper ; but it was conducted with wonderful spirit, and made an 
unprecedented hit."— Parton's Greeley, p. 181. "The Herald had much 
to do with the election, and kept pace with the enthusiasm of the times. 
It astonished newspaperdom. Its reports of speeches at Patchogue, in Wall 
Street, and other localities were given to the public with a fulness and 
with a speed never known before to the press." — Memoirs of J. O. Bennett, 
p. 263. See, also, Benton's Thirty Years' View, vol. ii. p. 205 ; Adams's 
Diary, vol. x. pp. 352, 355; Weed's Autobiography, vol. i. p. 467; Sher- 
man's Recollections of Forty Years, vol. i. p. 48. 



Ch. XL] STATISTICS OF THE ELECTION 457 

contributed largely to defray the expenses of this political 
pandemonium and to provide an abundant corruption fund ; 
but with how much truth it is impossible to know. Re- 
garded from any point, the campaign was no credit to our 
institutions, although not an unnatural consequence of the 
conditions that existed. The total vote, including 7059 for 
the Liberty ticket, was 2,410,778 — 912,573 more than in 
1836. The Whig majority was 139,256 ; yet the Demo- 
cratic vote was 367,153 more than in 1S36. But seven 
States — only one Northern state, Illinois — went Demo- 
cratic. Harrison and Tyler received 234 electoral votes ; 
Van Buren, 60. The Democratic votes for Vice-President 
were divided, Johnson receiving 48. 

Van Buren accepted the result with his usual composure. 
He was at once proclaimed as the choice of the party for 
its candidate in 1844, and he was confident of his eventual 
success. He met Congress, which convened December 7, 
as firm as ever in the maintenance of his policy. He re- 
ported a satisfactory condition of the finances and the suc- 
cessful operation of the independent Treasury system under 
the recently enacted law, and opposed with renewed vigor 
the establishment of a national bank. This part of the mes- 
sage w T as manifestly intended by him as a defence of the 
principles of his administration. It was composed with 
great ability and in an elevated style. It is perhaps the 
best of his state papers. 

As this Congress still contained a Democratic majority in 
both houses, but expired at the same time as the adminis- 
tration, little was accomplished beyond passing the neces- 
sary appropriation bills. The principal debate in the Senate 
related to the public lands. It was occasioned by a pre- 
emption bill, which was finally passed by the Senate, but 



458 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1841 

not by the House. On January 28 and 29 Clay spoke on 
the general subject of distributing the proceeds of the public 
lands. His speech had no particular reference to the bill, 
but was entirely devoted to a justification of the distribu- 
tion plan he had so long advocated. It was of course de- 
signed to prepare the way for the adoption of that plan 
under the incoming administration. How imperfectly he 
divined the future progress of the nation may be judged 
from some of his closing remarks. 

" If to the other ties," said he, " that bind us together as 
one people, be superadded the powerful interest springing 
out of a just administration of our exhaustless public do- 
main, by which for a long succession of ages, in seasons of 
peace, the States will enjoy the benefit of the great and 
growing revenue which it produces, and in periods of war, 
we shall be forever linked together with the strength of 
adamantine chains. No section, no State, would ever be 
mad enough to break off from the Union and deprive itself 
of the inestimable advantages which it secures. . . . Age 
after age ma}' roll away, State after State arise, generation 
succeed generation, and still the fund will remain not only 
unexhausted, but improved and increasing, for the benefit of 
our children's children to the remotest posterity." 

Clay did not repress his exultation over the Whig vic- 
tory. Nor did he wait until the Whigs were in power, and 
Harrison could formally define the policy of his adminis- 
tration, to assail the Sub -Treasury system. Early in the 
session he introduced a resolution declaring that the "act 
ought to be forthwith repealed." He spoke with extreme 
elation. "It has never," said he, "been my purpose in 
offering this resolution to invite or partake in an argu- 
ment on the ffreat measure to which the resolution re- 



Ch. XL] THE ELECTION AND THE SUB-TREASURY 459 

lates, nor is it my purpose now. I would as lief argue 
to the convicted criminal, when the rope is around his 
neck and the cart is about to remove from under his 
body, to persuade him to escape from the gallows, as to 
argue now to prove that this measure of the Sub-Treasury 
ought to be abandoned." l The ordinary forms should be 
dispensed with. The measure had been under discussion 
for three years and a half, hence further argument would 
be unnecessary and misapplied. " This nation, by a tremen- 
dous majority, has decided against the Sub-Treasury meas- 
ure. And when the nation speaks and wills and commands, 
what is to be done? There is no necessity of the forms 
of sending to a committee for a slow process of inquiry ; 
but there is a necessity for doing what the country re- 
quires, and to reform what Senators have been instructed 
to reform." 

Wright, in reply, denied that the result of the election 
implied the popular disapproval of the Sub - Treasury. 
" How is it ascertained ? By what declaration of policy or 
principle on the part of that party which has become pre- 
dominant? Why, I should suppose, if the result of the 
late election can be claimed as proving anything, it is to 
prove that we are to take down the splendid edifice in which 
I now stand and erect a log-cabin in its place ; that instead 
of the rich draperies and valuable pictures before us we 
are to hang around our chamber coon-skins, cat-skins, and 
other trophies of the chase." Clay winced under this sar- 
casm and retorted with much earnestness ; but as usual he 

'He afterward complained that this "casual expression " had been 
"terribly perverted by the public prints. The papers have represented 
me as having compared the gentlemen of the Senate who differ from me 
in opinion with regard to that measure as a company of convicts with 
halters arouud their necks." 



460 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1841 

relied mainly on the well-known character of his own prin- 
ciples as the guarantee of what those of the new adminis- 
tration would be. Calhoun maintained that " the election 
decided nothing but that General Harrison should be elected 
President for the next term," and protested " against the 
attempt to make any other inference the basis of official 
action," and in doing so he " but took the ground taken by 
the Senator and those with whom he acted when it was 
attempted to construe in a similar manner a former election 
to have decided against the renewal of the charter of the 
bank and in favor of certain measures to which he was 
opposed." In response to the question as to what was to 
be done after the Sub -Treasury was removed, Clay said, 
haughtily : " ' Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.' 
"We have nothing now but the Sub -Treasury to handle. 
That is an obstacle in the way of any measure. Let us 
first remove that, and it will then be time for the Senator 
from jSTew York to hand in his inquiries." The resolution 
served its purpose, and toward the close of the session it 
was laid on the table. 

If Clay seemed officious he no doubt felt that there was 
abundant reason for it. There was no Whig platform apart 
from the policy with which he was inseparably identified 
and for which he was largely responsible. The real Whig- 
party was the Clay party; and it is this unquestionable fact 
that renders his career so important historical]) 7 . It is not 
surprising, therefore, that Harrison at the outset should 
have recognized Clay's support as indispensable, and willing- 
ly conceded his leadership. Harrison's letter to him before 
the nomination was followed by another soon after that 
event, in which he expressed his gratitude to him. " I 
must," he continued, "beg you also to believe that if the 



Ch. XL] CLAY'S POLITICAL PREDOMINANCE 4G1 

claims derived from your superior talents and experience 
(so universally acknowledged by my supporters) had pre- 
vailed over those which accidental circumstances had con- 
ferred upon me, and enabled the convention to name you 
as the candidate, you would have had no more zealous sup- 
porter in the Union than I should have been." 

After the election they first met at the home of Governor 
Letcher, at Frankfort ; and soon afterward Clay entertained 
Harrison at Ashland. There can be no doubt that during 
this time Clay's counsel was paramount in all important 
matters of party policy. In these interviews the compo- 
sition of the cabinet was discussed. Clay was offered the 
choice of any appointment he desired in the administra- 
tion; but he at once declined any official position, preferring 
to remain in the Senate until the principal measures decided 
upon were enacted, and then retire, in view of his prospec- 
tive candidacy in 1844. This was distinctly understood ; 
and both concurred in the expediency of an extra session 
of Congress to enact these measures. Harrison's inaugural 
address was subsequently submitted to Clay, and all his 
suggestions but one were adopted. 1 Clay advised the elimi- 
nation of the allusions to the Greeks and Romans, which 
Harrison had inserted from an habitual fondness for that 
kind of historical illustration, but he insisted on retaining 
them. 2 It is related, however, that Clay was so peremptory 



1 "The first draft of his inaugural was so wantonly offensive to the 
antislavery Whigs who bad aided in his election that even Mr. Clay con- 
densed it and prevailed on the General to modify it. He had declared that 
' the schemes of the abolitionists were fraught with horrors upon which an 
incarnate devil only could look with approbation.'" — Julian's Political 
Recollections, p. 25. 

2 It appears that the address was also submitted to Webster, who wrote 
a substantially new one for Harrison to recite. " Twelve Roman procon- 



462 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1841 

in some things that he drew from Harrison the remark : 
" Mr. Clay, you forget that I am the President." ' 

Clay was willing that Webster should enter the cabinet, 
although he told Harrison that his " confidence in "Webster 
had been somewhat shaken during the last eight years ; he 
did not see how any Whig President could overlook him." 2 
The cabinet as then and afterward constructed was excep- 
tionally strong and made up chiefly from Clay's stanchest 
friends — Crittenden, his colleague in the Senate, for Attor- 
ney-General ; Ewing, of Ohio, for Secretary of the Treas- 
ury ; Bell, of Tennessee, for Secretary of War ; Badger, of 
North Carolina, for Secretary of the Navy. Webster was 
selected for Secretary of State, and his friend Granger for 
Postmaster-General. 

In his inaugural address Harrison deplored the tendency 
of the Executive to absorb powers vested by the Constitu- 
tion in the other departments of the government. He de- 
clared himself explicitly in favor of limiting the eligibility of 



suls and several citizens" have I slain, "and yet they are not all dead." 
Harrison, however, declined to use Webster's production. — Schouler's 
History of the United States, vol. iv. pp. 860, 362. 

1 The authority for this assertion is a letter in the New York World of 
August 31, 1880, written by James Lyons, who entertained Harrison in 
Richmond in February, 1841. 

2 Clay's Correspondence, p. 447 ; Flone's Diary, vol. ii. p. 54. "On the 
morning of the day when President Harrison was expected to send to the 
Senate the names of the members of his cabinet some one remarked, in the 
presence of Mr. Clay, Mr. Crittenden, and several other members of Con- 
gress, that Mr. Webster was to be Secretary of the Treasury. ' Oh no,' 
said Mr. Clay, ' Mr. Webster is to take the Department of State.' 'That,' 
said the first speaker, 'was the original programme, but as Mr. Webster 
prefers the Treasury Department, the President has consented to appoint 
him to the Treasury.' Instantly, and in his most impassioned manner, 
Mr. Clay replied : ' I will oppose it ; I will denounce it in open Senate. 
The State Department is the proper place for Mr. Webster.'" — Century 
Magazine, vol. xxiii. p. 182. 



Ch. XL] HARRISON ON THE EXECUTIVE POWER 4G3 

the President to one term, and renewed his pledge that he 
would not consent to serve a second term. He maintained 
that the President is not a part of the legislative branch ; 
that the veto power should be exercised only to preserve the 
Constitution from violation and the people from the conse- 
quences of hasty legislation, and " to prevent the effects of 
combinations violative of the rights of minorities." He as- 
serted the " right and privilege of the people to decide dis- 
puted points of the Constitution arising from the general 
grant of power to Congress to carry into effect the powers 
expressly given." He declared against the union of the sword 
and the purse. " It was certainly a great error," said he, " in 
the framers of the Constitution not to have made the offi- 
cer at the head of the Treasury Department entirely inde- 
pendent of the Executive. He should at least have been 
removable only upon the demand of the popular branch of 
the legislature." The Executive should exert no influence 
over the elective franchise, and he should not interfere with 
the absolute freedom of the press nor with legislation, par- 
ticularly with the ways and means of raising revenue. As 
to a bank, he was silent, and touched the subject of the cur- 
rency only to declaim against metallic money " as fraught 
with more fatal consequences than any other scheme hav- 
ing no relation to the personal rights of the citizen." He 
was against any interference with slavery either in the 
States or in the District. Concerning the financial embar- 
rassment of some of the States, he vaguely suggested that 
it was " our duty to encourage them to the extent of our 
Constitutional authority to apply their best means and 
cheerfully make all necessary sacrifices and submit to all 
necessary burdens to fulfil their engagements and maintain 
their credit." He announced his desire to maintain peace- 



464 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1841 

ful and honorable relations with foreign powers and to 
treat the Indians with justice and liberality; and closed 
with a rather sophomoric appeal to the people to refrain 
from the violence of party spirit. On the whole, the ad- 
dress was satisfactory to the leading Whigs, and betokened 
Harrison's readiness to co-operate in the execution of the 
party policy. 1 

Weeks before the new administration was installed it was 
evident that the pressure for office would be tremendous. 
The desire of the Whigs for the spoils of their victory proved 
even more general and urgent than that of the Democrats 
after Jackson's first election. Washington was overrun with 
office-seekers, and every one supposed to have influence in 
the quest for place was overwhelmed with applications, while 
those who dispensed the patronage were soon dismayed." 



1 " It was not creditable to the manliness of Mr. Adams and his cabinet 
that none of them remained at their posts to receive their successors. They 
all fled as if an enemy was in hot pursuit. A beautiful contrast was ex- 
hibited by Mr. Van Buren and his friends twelve years afterwards. Mr. 
Van Buren, on General Harrison's arrival in the city, invited him to the 
White House, made him acquainted with its inmates, and entertained him 
as his guest until the inauguration. The members of his cabinet remained 
in their several offices until their successors made their appearance, received 
them courteously, and introduced them to their subordinates" — Kendall's 
Autobiography, p. 308. Van Buren's " tact is admirable, and whatever 
may be his feelings in regard to the success of his distinguished rival, he 
will never afford his political opponents the triumph of letting them be 
known." — Hone's Diary, vol. ii. p. 59. 

2 The scene was long fresh in Greeley's memory. In 1854 he wrote to 
Seward: "Now came the great scramble of the swell-mob of coon min- 
strels and cider-suckers at Washington. . . . Several regiments went on 
from this city." At the time, he wrote of the "large and numerous swarms 
of office-hunting locusts sweeping on to Washington daily. All the rotten 
land speculators, broken bank directors, swindling cashiers, etc., are in 
full cry for office, office." " Mr. Pry made a speech one evening at a po- 
litical meeting in Philadelphia. The next morning a committee waited 
upon him to know for what office he intended to become an applicant. 
' Office ?' said the astonished composer. 'No office.' 'Why, theu,' said the 



Ch. XI.] HARRISON'S REBUFF TO CLAY 465 

Webster, representing the President, issued a circular to the 
heads of departments declaring that assessments and parti- 
san interference with popular elections on the part of gov- 
ernment officials and employes would be cause for removal ; 
but the work went on none the less. Clay prudently decided 
to have nothing to do with appointments. " Without the 
principle of non-interference," he wrote, " if the day had a 
duration of forty -eight hours instead of twenty -four, I 
should be unable to attend to the applications I receive." 

Before Harrison went to Kentucky he wrote to Clay sug- 
gesting that it would be better for them to communicate with 
each other by means of a third person, from the fear that 
their " personal meeting might give rise to speculations, and 
even jealousies, which it might be well to avoid." Although 
this notion, which could occur only to a mediocre man, was 
waived for the time, the dread of danger to his dignity 
seems to have grown upon him after he reached Washing- 
ton, and was doubtless increased by those who sought to 
lessen Clay's influence with him. At all events, but a few 
days after the inauguration Harrison intimated to Clay that 
he preferred to have him communicate in writing the sug- 
gestions he desired to offer, instead of calling personally. 1 
The incident was caused by the efforts to procure the ap- 
pointment of one Edward Curtis as collector of customs at 
New York. Curtis was an adroit political schemer and strat- 
egist, and was supported by Seward and Weed, but was dis- 
tasteful to Clay because of his activity in opposing him at 
Harrisburg. He was appointed. 2 Harrison's rebuff vexed 

committee, ' what the h did you speak last night for ? ' " — Parton's 

Greeley, p. 190. See also Coleman'3 Crittenden, vol. i. pp. 136,149; Wood- 
bury's Writings, vol. i. p. 128. 

1 Sargent's Public Men and Events, vol. ii. p. 116. 

s "There is a pretty good hit in one of the Southern papers upon the 
30 



466 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1841 

Clay sorely, and it might have led to estrangement had the 
President lived. After a few days, Clay's vexation some- 
what cooled, and he wrote to Harrison a mildly reproach- 
ful letter resenting the imputation that he had sought to dic- 
tate to him in any manner. 1 He then left for Ashland, and 
the two men met no more. On April 4, after a brief ill- 
ness, Harrison died. 2 As events proved, his nomination, elec- 
tion, and inauguration were but a mere episode. The im- 
portant result was incidental — it made John Tyler Vice- 
President. 

Tyler at once took the oath of office as President, and as- 
sumed the title as well as the functions. This being the first 
instance where the President had died during his term, there 
were no precedents to guide the formalities of the succes- 
sion. There was some transient criticism of Tyler's styl- 
ing himself President instead of Acting President ; but it 
was more finical than substantial, and his course has since 



rather redundant introduction of classical illustrations in the President's 
inaugural address. . . . The writer says that General Harrison was pre- 
vailed upon to consent to the appointment of Edward Curtis as collector 
at New York by being told that he was a lineal descendant of the Curtius 
of Rome." — Hone's Diary, vol. ii. p. 70. 

1 Clay's Correspondence, p. 452. 

2 The following, from Hone's Diary, sufficiently illustrates the senti- 
ments that prevailed throughout the country as soon as Harrison's death 
became known : "On receipt of the news here yesterday morning a spon- 
taneous exhibition of the badges of woe was seen throughout the city ; the 
flags on all public places, as well as on all the shipping in the harbor (not 
excepting Tammany Hall), were exhibited half-mast, and some of them 
shrouded in black. The courts in session immediately adjourned. The 
newspapers were clothed in mourning, all but the Evening Post, whose . . . 
editor, Bryant, says he regrets the death of General Harrison only because 
he did not live long enough to prove his incapacity for the office of Presi- 
dent. Most of the places of amusement were closed in the evening. The 
last words uttered by the President, as heard by Dr. Worthington, were 
these : ' Sir, I wish you to understand the true principles of the govern- 
ment ; I wish them carried out, nothing more.' " — vol. ii. p. 72. 



Ch. XL] TYLER ASSUMES THE PRESIDENCY 467 

been followed in similar cases. It was of vastly greater 
moment to the Whigs that he should succeed to Harrison's 
policy as well as to his title. Whether he would was at 
least a doubtful question. Danger was apprehended that 
he would prove refractory. There was abundant reason for 
the fear. He had been long in public life, his course had 
not been uncertain, and it was well known. 1 

He was of an old and distinguished Virginian family, and 
had strengthened his already high social position by an ad- 
vantageous marriage. He was well educated, and possessed 
a fine presence, engaging manners, and very respectable 
powers of public speech. 11 He was admitted to the bar at 
the age of nineteen and soon acquired practice and popu- 
larity. In 1S11 he was elected to the State legislature, and 
began his political career as an unbending strict-construc- 
tionist. He was opposed to the recharter of the Bank of 
the United States, and signalized his views by proposing 
resolutions censuring the Senators from Virginia for voting 
for the recharter contrary to their instructions. He served 
five years in the legislature, and was then elected to Con- 
gress, where he served five years. While in the House he 

1 Adams wrote on the day of Harrison's death : "Tyler is a political 
sectarian, of the slave-driving, Virginian, Jeffersonian school, principled 
against all improvement, with all the interests and passions and vices of 
slavery rooted in his moral and political constitution — with talents not 
above mediocrity, and a spirit incapable of expansion to the dimensions of 
the station upou which he has been cast by the hand of Providence, un- 
seen, through the apparent agency of chance." — Diary, vol. x. p. 457. 

"' 2 A man of striking, manly beauty, with hair of silky, soft chestnut 
brown, flowing in curls imperial as those of Jove when Olympus shook 
with his nod ; a strong gray eye, which glowed as he breathed forth his in- 
spirations of intellect and heart ; a finely chiselled mouth, expressing the 
most delicate taste and sweet benevolence ; and a nose and chin of manly 
fortitude ; — one could but inwardly exclaim when looking at him and 
listening to him, ' Os nomine sublime cledit.'"' — Wise's Seven Decades of the 
Union, p. 139. 



468 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1841 

was conspicuously rigid in his advocacy of States-rights and 
strict-construction. He was opposed to the policy of in- 
ternal improvements and protective tariffs, and declared 
his opinions in numerous speeches. In 1818 he joined in 
an elaborate report against the bank. He opposed Clay's 
resolutions looking to the recognition of the South Amer- 
ican states, but supported those in censure of Jackson's 
proceedings in the Florida war. He followed Randolph in 
opposing the Missouri Compromise, maintaining that Con- 
gress had no power to impose restrictions upon a Territory 
in the formation of a State constitution, or to control sla- 
very in any way in the territorial domain. 

In 1821 he retired from Congress on account of ill-health; 
but two years later he was returned to the State legislat- 
ure, mainly to promote his election to the Senate. He was 
defeated, however; but in 1825 he was elected by the legis- 
lature Governor of the State. In 1824 he favored Crawford 
for the Presidency ; but after the coalition outcry against 
Adams and Clay he wrote a letter to Clay extolling his ac- 
tion in supporting Adams and entering the cabinet. This 
letter afterward became known and gave him some trouble.' 
He did not retract the sentiments he expressed, although 
he was an opponent of Adams's administration. His ambi- 
tion while Governor was still to enter the Senate, and he 
was finally elected over Randolph, taking his seat in Decem- 
ber, 1827. 

During Jackson's first term Tyler acted chiefly with the 
administration party, and he supported Jackson's re-election 
in 1832. He evinced no change in the principles he had 
followed in the House. He was still opposed to internal 

1 Schurz's Clay, vol. i. p. 279 ; Clay's Correspondence, p. 119 ; Letters 
and Times of the Tylers, vol. i. p. 41. 



Ch. XL] TYLER'S POLITICAL CAREER 469 

improvements, particularly to further aid in the construc- 
tion of the Cumberland road. He opposed Clay's bill to 
distribute the proceeds of the public lands. He was also 
strongly against the tariffs of 1828 and 1832. "While he did 
not approve nullification, his language against the injustice 
of the tariff system that prompted it was not less vigorous 
than Calhoun's. He zealously supported the Compromise, 
but voted against the force bill. He had ranked as an ad- 
ministration man with independent leanings. He was held 
in high estimation, and his conduct was ascribed to worthy 
motives and his Constitutional principles. But what he 
deemed strict adherence to those principles gradually led 
him into the opposition. The first indication of this course 
was to oppose the action of the President in employing 
diplomatic agents without the consent of the Senate. His 
hostility to the principles of Jackson's nullification procla- 
mation and the force bill marked an increasing alienation 
that soon became complete. Though still maintaining the 
opinion that the bank was unconstitutional, he disapproved 
the removal of the deposits, voted for Clay's resolution of 
censure, and drew the report of the Senate committee as- 
serting the solvency of the bank. In 1833 he was re- 
elected to the Senate; but in 1836 he resigned because of 
his refusal to obey the instructions of the Virginia legis- 
lature to vote for Benton's expunging resolution. Then 
occurred his effort for re-election, from which he was in- 
duced to withdraw by the prospect of the Vice-Presidency. 1 
This office must have held strong attraction for him, for 
he was anxious to run with Harrison in 1S36 ; but through 
Clay's influence Granger was nominated instead. 



1 Wise's Seven Decades of the Union, pp. 157, 161. 



470 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1841 

From these leading facts of Tyler's previous political 
career, it is obvious that his only pretension to be a Whig 
was through his having acted with the "Whigs in the Senate, 
not on any positive Whig measure of policy, but solely in 
opposition to Jackson. His acceptance of the nomination 
for Yice-President can only be explained by an intense de- 
sire for the honor of the office ; and the action of the con- 
vention in nominating him, by the lack of a willing and 
orthodox candidate, a sentimental impulse, and an indiffer- 
ence to the contingency that came to pass on Harrison's 
death. 

Before the convention, when Clay's nomination seemed 
probable, Tyler wrote to him for a statement of his views 
on several political subjects, saying that he was regarded 
" as a Republican of the old school, who had indulged, when 
the public good seemed to require it, somewhat too much in 
a broad interpretation to suit our Southern notions." Clay 
said in his reply : " We disagree about absolute questions of 
policy, and make that disagreement available to prevent 
our uniting in wresting the Constitution from the hands of 
men who have put them into its living vitals." Repeatedly 
during the campaign, in answer to inquiries, Tyler declared 
his adherence to the opinion that a nationa 1 bank was un- 
constitutional. One reason why Clay had so much inter- 
ested himself in Virginia politics was that in the expecta- 
tion of being nominated he was anxious that his native 
State should be for him in the election. The prevailing 
opinion of its public men had long been against the con- 
stitutionality of a national bank. Hence when he failed 
to receive the nomination, and the Whig ticket was suc- 
cessful without the aid of Virginia, he was outspoken in 
his disregard for the opinions of the Virginia school. In a 



Oh. XL] TYLER AND THE WHIG POLICY 471 

letter to his constituents in September, 1842, Wise wrote: 
" The first salutation I met from Mr. Clay, after the elec- 
tion of 1840, and when we met in Congress in December of 
that 3 7 ear, flushed with victory and all rejoicing, was, ' Well, 
sir, it is not to be lamented that old Virginia has gone for 
Mr. Van Buren, for we will not now be embarrassed by her 
peculiar opinions.' " 

Notwithstanding the apprehensions of the Whigs that 
Tyler would not stand firmly by their programme, they 
were given ground for confidence by his cordial retention 
of Harrison's entire cabinet, and by an address to the people 
promulgated a few days after he took the oath of office. 
From the general tone and sentiments of this address, it 
might well have been written by a stalwart Whig. Its ref- 
erences to the late administrations were severe enough to 
warrant the belief that Tyler was ready to go as far as any 
one in reversing the Democratic policy. He did not declare 
himself in favor of a national bank, but his remarks on the 
subject of currency and finance created the impression gen- 
erally that he would approve the establishment of one. " In 
deciding," said he, "upon the adaptation of any such meas- 
ure to the end proposed, I shall resort to the fathers of the 
great Kepublican school for advice and instruction, to be 
drawn from their sage views of our system of government 
and the light of their ever-glorious example." 

Clay was not wholly reassured by the promising sound of 
this address : he was too familiar with the wide orbit of 
action that plausible generalities permit. He at once wrote 
to Tyler to ascertain his views more definitely; but he 
gained little satisfaction. The only topics upon which he 
was explicit were the Sub-Treasury, the repeal of which he 
regarded as inevitable, and the distribution of the proceeds 



472 THE JACKSONIAN EPOCH [1841 

of the public lands, which he favored, if the annual appro- 
priations for rivers and harbors were excluded. lie said 
that he had formed no plans ; but that some additional bur- 
dens might be necessary for the relief of the Treasury, and 
that the condition of the military defences required im- 
mediate attention. As to a bank, his remarks were porten- 
tous. He said that, if the other subjects he had mentioned 
were attended to, Congress would accomplish much good ; 
and he suggested several reasons why a bank should not be 
insisted on. He added, however, that he should leave the 
matter wholly to the discretion of Congress, and be gov- 
erned, so far as his action was concerned, by the character 
of the measure proposed; but he significantly requested 
Clay to consider whether he could not " so frame a bank 
as to obviate all Constitutional objections." A few days 
after receiving this letter Clay wrote to Brooke : " I repair 
to my post in the Senate with strong hopes, not, however, 
unmixed with fears. If the Executive will cordially co-oper- 
ate in carrying out the Whig measures all will be well. 
Otherwise everything is at hazard." 

It was to be otherwise. The Whig triumph was to prove 
barren — blasted by Tyler's fortuitous accession. The na- 
tional bank question, which had so long been the chief 
source of political turmoil, was now to receive its quietus 
from Tyler, and to lie entombed under Webster's epitaph — 
"an obsolete idea." Again political conditions had devel- 
oped a new stage. Tyler's pro-slavery principles had made 
him available to strengthen the Whig ticket. In his hands, 
sustained by Calhoun's determined efforts, the pro-slavery 
policy was to be advanced until it dominated all others. 
The Jacksonian epoch had come to a close. 



LRBMy'?9 



